Department of Health and Social Care

Oral Tobacco

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June to Question 188411 on Oral Tobacco, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prohibiting the (a) sale and (b) supply of oral nicotine pouches to people under 18.

Neil O'Brien: No formal assessment has been made. Prevalence of nicotine pouches remains low, and whilst there is currently no age of sale restrictions on nicotine pouches, manufacturers do print age restrictions on their packs. We will keep this under review.

HIV Infection and Viral Diseases: Screening

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make a decision on expanding the routine testing programme for HIV and blood-borne viruses in areas with a high HIV prevalence.

Neil O'Brien: Provisional data from NHS England indicates that this HIV opt-out testing initiative has helped find more than 550 cases of undiagnosed or untreated HIV in the first year of the programme. We are currently considering all the evidence from the first year of opt-out HIV and blood-borne virus testing in emergency departments, alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions and AIDS and HIV-related deaths within England by 2030, to examine the feasibility of further expanding this programme. A decision will be made in due course.

Contraceptives: Nottingham

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to improve the provision of long-acting reversible contraception in Nottingham.

Neil O'Brien: The Government provides funding for contraception, both as an essential service which general practices (GPs) must either provide or arrange for the provision of to their patients through the GP Contract, and through the public health grant to local authorities.Local authorities in England are responsible for commissioning comprehensive, open access sexual and reproductive health services, including the provision of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), to meet local demand. Integrated care boards may also commission GPs to offer LARC as an enhanced service to their local population, in addition to the service provided through the GP contract.It is for Nottingham City Council and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board to decide on commissioning arrangements in Nottingham based on an assessment of local need.

Contraceptives: General Practitioners

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to review the (a) effectiveness and (b) timeliness of the funding system accessed by GPs for fitting intrauterine systems; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Disclosure of Information

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.

Will Quince: The Department's policies follow Civil Service HR's wider model discipline policy. This makes clear that all disciplinary matters are strictly confidential, with all parties pertaining to an investigation process required to always maintain confidentiality, including once the process has concluded.This sits alongside a separate 'raising a concern' policy, which is sometimes referred to as whistleblowing, in line with the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.

General Practitioners: Postnatal Care

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP practices offer the six to eight week postnatal assessment (a) face-to-face and (b) remotely.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Postnatal Care

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of GP practices offer women a postnatal assessment six to eight weeks after giving birth.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Pancreatic Cancer: Mortality Rates

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the survival rate for pancreatic cancer; and whether policies on increasing the survival rate will be included in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Will Quince: Early diagnosis is key to improving survival rates for pancreatic cancer. The Department is working with the National Health Service to improve diagnosis and treatment for those with cancer. The Elective Recovery Plan, published on 8 February 2022, set out the ambition that 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their general practitioner for suspected cancer will be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by March 2024.The pancreatic cancer clinical audit, led by the Royal College of Surgeons, began in 2021, with the first outcomes expected in 2023/24. A key aim of the audit is to support NHS services to stimulate improvements in cancer detection, treatment and outcomes for patients, including improving survival rates.In addition, the NHS has allocated £10 million to innovations to support earlier and more efficient diagnosis, including the PinPoint blood test and a new genetic test that can be used as a ‘liquid biopsy’ for those with suspected pancreatic cancer.The Major Conditions Strategy will look at the treatment and prevention of cancer, covering the patient pathway. The strategy will consider a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for cancer patients.

Pancreatic Cancer: Diagnosis

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve diagnosis times for pancreatic cancer.

Will Quince: The Department is working with NHS England to improve diagnosis for those with cancer, including pancreatic cancer. The Elective Recovery Plan, published on 8 February 2022, set out the ambition that 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their general practitioner (GP) for suspected cancer will be diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by March 2024. To deliver this plan, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis.In addition, the Government has awarded £2.3 billion to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, prioritising CDCs for cancer services.The National Health Service has implemented ‘non-specific symptom pathways’ for patients who have symptoms that do not align to a particular type of tumour, including for non-specific symptoms of pancreatic cancer. There are 103 pathways currently in place, with the aim being to have national coverage by March 2024.To encourage people to see their GP if they notice symptoms that could be cancer, NHS England runs the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaigns, which address the barriers that deter patients from accessing the NHS.In addition, the NHS has allocated £10 million to innovations to support earlier and more efficient diagnosis, including the PinPoint blood test and a new genetic test that can be used as a ‘liquid biopsy’ for those with suspected pancreatic cancer.

Ovarian Cancer: Screening

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the availability of the CA125 blood test for the screening of ovarian cancer.

Will Quince: We do not currently screen for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the CA125 blood test as a screening tool. CA125 blood testing is not deemed by the UK National Screening Committee to be accurate enough for the purpose of screening. The blood test is offered to those who have symptoms that could be ovarian cancer as a part of routine diagnostics.

British Medical Association and Society of Radiographers

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he last met representatives of the (a) Society of Radiographers, (b) BMA junior doctors committee and (c) BMA consultants committee.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospitals: Construction

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many FTE staff in his Department are working on the New Hospitals Programme.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Continuing Care: Older People

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to long-term care for older people in (a) Slough constituency, (b) the South East, and (c) England and Wales.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of workforce shortages on cancer treatment waiting times.

Will Quince: No assessment has been made.The Government is committed to reducing cancer waiting times and has worked with NHS England to publish the elective recovery delivery plan in February 2022, backed by funding of £8 billion, to drive up elective activity. This is further supported by £2.3 billion to expand diagnostic services, including the role of community diagnostic centres prioritising cancer services.In 2023/24, NHS England is continuing to invest £50 million in the priorities set out in the Cancer workforce plan, including additional medical training places for clinical and medical oncology, radiology, histopathology and gastroenterology.As of February 2023, there were 33,174 full-time equivalent staff in the cancer workforce in National Health Service trusts in England, including histopathologists, gastroenterologists, clinical radiologists, medical and clinical oncologists and diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers.In January 2023, Health Education England announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons funding for NHS staff mental health and wellbeing hubs ended on 31 March 2023.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on the mental health and wellbeing of NHS staff of the closure of NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made on the closure of NHS Staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs.Staff mental health and wellbeing hubs were established in October 2020 with funding subsequently extended to March 2023. They were funded on a non-recurrent basis in response to the pressure on the workforce from COVID-19. NHS England has identified further national funding to maintain support for staff mental health in 2023/24 on a regional basis, as part of the transition towards a sustainable model for staff health and wellbeing support, which is based on a preventative, local level approach. Integrated care systems (ICSs) are able to supplement this with their own investment locally.To ensure there is a long-term sustainable approach to supporting staff, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan has tasked ICSs with developing and implementing plans to invest in occupational health and wellbeing services.

Ovarian Cancer: Publicity

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of ovarian cancer.

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has plans to increase funding for (a) screening and (b) treating ovarian cancer.

Will Quince: The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). As with other Government funders of health research, the NIHR does not allocate funding for specific disease areas. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including ovarian cancer research.Currently, there is no national screening programme for ovarian cancer, in part due to the unsuitability of the blood test as a screening tool. No funding has been allocated for screening for ovarian cancer.However, it is worth noting that the NIHR has funded six research projects into screening for ovarian cancer since 2018, with a combined total funding value of £3.8 million. The NIHR also supports delivery in the health and care system for screening for ovarian cancer research funded by research funding partners in the charity and public sectors.The Department is committed to timely access to clinically and cost-effective new cancer drugs on the National Health Service. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraises all new cancer medicines, including for gynaecological cancers. The Cancer Drugs Fund supports patient access to the most promising new cancer medicines while further evidence is collected, including for ovarian cancer.On ovarian cancer awareness, I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 9 May 2023 to Question 183186.

Benzodiazepines

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the potential impact of benzodiazepine use on (a) dementia risk, (b) brain health and (c) cancer risk.

Will Quince: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring that medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assess the available data and, where appropriate, seeks the advice of the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, to inform decisions. All data relating to the safety of a medicine must be held by the Marketing Authorisation Holder and the MHRA notified about any data which impacts the safety of their products.The MHRA holds information that has been reported through the Yellow Card scheme regarding suspected adverse reactions, which may include dementia, neurological disorders or cancers, and details of the suspected adverse reactions reported are available on the MHRA website. Published literature on the impact on dementia risk, brain health and cancer risk is not specifically held by the MHRA but can be accessed to support safety evaluations.

Department of Health and Social Care: Members

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Will Quince: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Department of Health and Social Care: Artificial Intelligence

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) algorithmic and (b) other automated decision making systems his Department uses; and for what purposes.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care does not use or deploy algorithmic or automated decision-making systems on its staff or for internal analysis in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Plantir: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the Palantir Foundry pilot at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been paused; and whether there are (a) financial and (b) operational costs as a result of the pilot's pausing.

Will Quince: The implementation of Foundry products in Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is centred around two key solutions using the platform.The first of these is the Improving Elective Care Coordination for Patients Programme (IECCP), which provides solutions designed to: validate waiting lists to ensure accuracy; enable clinicians to tell patients where they are on the waiting list and easily reprioritise them where required; and calculate the number of un-booked minutes in a theatre session and ‘suggest’ patients to fill gaps based on their priority, making theatre scheduling significantly more efficient. The rollout of IECCP at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been live since March 2023.The second of these is the OPTICA solution deployed as part of the Dynamic Discharges programme of work, which is designed to: provide a blueprint to help the National Health Service manage the way patients are discharged, freeing up beds for those in most need; increase the timeliness of discharge for patients; and improve bed utilisation. Rollout of the OPTICA solution at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is dependent on the implementation of the IECCP modules (which were completed in March 2023) and updates to the Trust’s Electronic Patient Record to enable electronic collection of discharge information.Due to operational pressures, the Trust temporarily paused engagement of OPTICA. However, it is now in a position to recommence activity.  No costs have been incurred as a result of the pause in delivery because the OPTICA implementation resources originally allocated to the Trust were diverted to implement the solution in other trusts. However, the OPTICA Team is now scheduled to begin discussions with the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to implement OPTICA as quickly as the Trust can accommodate.

Cancer: Screening

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department has made on the rollout of the direct access scheme for GPs to order diagnostic tests for patients with symptoms of cancer.

Will Quince: In November 2022, NHS England announced that general practitioners (GPs) would have direct access to a range of key diagnostic tests. NHS England is rolling out this direct access scheme across all GP practices in England for patients with concerning symptoms, but who fall outside the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline threshold for an urgent suspected cancer referral.Phase 1 of the direct access scheme will deal with urgent cancer referral pathways, and Phase 2, which will be built up in 2023/24, will include a wider range of tests, which will involve dialogues with GPs, integrated care boards and key stakeholders.Alongside this, the introduction of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDC) provides additional diagnostic capacity, with 114 CDCs currently in operation, supporting primary care teams to boost the number of GP Direct Access tests availableNHS England continues to actively support those trusts requiring the greatest help to cut cancer waiting lists, and the Department is working with NHS England to make further improvements.

Infant Mortality

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reach stillbirth and mortality rates 2025 targets.

Maria Caulfield: The Government Maternity Safety Ambition is to halve the 2010 rates of stillbirths, neonatal and maternal deaths and brain injuries in babies occurring during or soon after birth by 2025. The ambition also includes reducing the rate of pre-term births from 8% to 6% by 2025.We have added £165 million of recurring investment to the annual maternity budget, beginning in 2021, to grow and support the maternity workforce and improve neonatal care.On 30 March 2023, NHS England published its ‘Three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services’. The delivery plan will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised and more equitable for women, babies and families.The NHS Long Term Plan includes new measures to improve safety, quality and continuity of care that will help achieve our ambition to halve stillbirths, maternal and neonatal deaths and brain injuries in babies by 2025. These measures include: ensuring most women can benefit from continuity of carer through and beyond their pregnancy, targeted towards those who will benefit most; providing extra support for expectant mothers at risk of premature birth; and expanding support for perinatal mental health conditions.The expanded Saving Babies’ Lives Care Bundle, currently being rolled out across England, includes a new element to reduce the number of pre-term births and optimise care when pre-term delivery cannot be prevented.

NHS: Drugs

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by Global Justice Now, Stopaids and Just Treatment entitled Bitter Pills published on 12 July 2023.

Will Quince: The United Kingdom has well established systems for controlling costs and ensuring we get value for money for spending on medicines. The UK’s system is seen as world-leading, due in large part to the role of the National Health Service as a single buyer providing access to the vast majority of the UK market. However, the Department does not recognise the specific methodology used in this report.The 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access is expected to generate around £7 billion in income for the NHS over five years, while also supporting access to and uptake of the most clinically and cost-effective medicines.Negotiations are ongoing to agree a new voluntary scheme which should continue to support patients, the economy and the affordability of medicines to the NHS.

NHS: Drugs

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the effectiveness of regulatory measures on the use of medicines (a) developed and (b) produced with public funding.

Will Quince: The Department is confident in the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) world-leading regulatory regime, for publicly funded medicines and others. There are no current plans for a review of regulatory measures on the use of medicines developed and produced with public funding.

Neurology: Waiting Lists

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting lists for neurology (a) diagnostics, (b) treatment, (c) surgery and (d) other services.

Will Quince: To support elective recovery, we plan to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, supported by a £5.9 billion investment in capital, for new beds, equipment and technology.This funding could deliver the equivalent of around nine million more checks and procedures, including for neurology treatment and surgery, and will mean that the National Health Service in England can aim to deliver around 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than before the pandemic. A significant part of this funding will be invested in staff, both in terms of capacity and skills.£2.3 billion was awarded at the 2021 Spending Review to transform diagnostic services over the following three years. Most of this will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. The funding will also be used to increase capacity for imaging and improving digital diagnostics.

Cancer: NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for patients waiting to start cancer treatment at Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin ICB after an urgent GP referral to meet national targets.

Will Quince: NHS England is taking steps to support Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board through weekly tiering and monitoring of cancer performance and has developed improvement trajectories for each tumour site. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are implementing a range of interventions to reduce the backlog of patients awaiting commencement of treatment and to also improve performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard and 62-day cancer standards.These interventions include: working with primary care colleagues to fully implement faecal immunochemical testing triage for patients referred on a two-week wait colorectal pathway, in line with operational planning guidance 2023/24; appointment of a clinical lead for the non-site-specific vague symptoms pathway; redesigning its prostate pathway in line with the Best Practice Timed Pathway (BPTP); and undertaking two pilot studies with different primary care networks with the aim of introducing a tele-dermatology service in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.The integrated care board is also working with NHS England and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin partners to implement the BPTP, including by increasing capacity in non-obstetric ultrasound and hysteroscopy, both essential early diagnostic tools.The first Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) will open to patients in October 2023 and will provide additional MRI, CT, ultrasound and cardio-respiratory testing capacity across a range of modalities and provide a hub and spoke model for tele-dermatology services.

Psilocybin: Research

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to increase the level of research into the use of psilocybin for the treatment of (a) depression, (b) addiction and (c) other chronic conditions on health inequalities; and if he will take steps to fund research into the use of psilocybin.

Will Quince: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), who have invested £1.1 million in a randomised controlled trial to examine if it is feasible, safe and effective to use psilocybin to treat people with treatment-resistant depression. NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including the use of psilocybin in the treatment of depression, addiction and other chronic conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.NIHR infrastructure is supporting psilocybin research via the NIHR King’s Clinical Research Facility and the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre where researchers are developing and evaluating the efficacy and safety of psilocybin therapy for use in the National Health Service and other healthcare settings.

Infant Mortality

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve support for couples who experience baby loss.

Maria Caulfield: The Government funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity (SANDs) to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the rollout of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances surrounding baby loss, including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).As of 1 January 2023, 108 NHS England trusts (84%) have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards. 21 trusts are yet to do so, and NBCP England continue to push for their inclusion.A key commitment in the Single Delivery Plan for Maternity and Neonatal Services is investment to ensure the availability of bereavement services seven days a week by the end of 2023/24 for women and families who sadly experience loss.The Pregnancy Loss Review was launched in 2018 to consider questions on registering and certifying pregnancy loss that occurs before 24 weeks’ gestation and the quality of National Health Service care for women experiencing such losses. The Review is being led by two independent experts. This was paused in 2019 and 2020 but has now recommenced with a view to publishing a report by the end of the year.

Personal Care Services: Sports

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that adequate safeguarding checks are made on sports massage therapists.

Maria Caulfield: The Government is committed to a proportionate system of oversight for health and care professions and the types of assurance in place will vary by profession based on the specific risk profile.Anyone undertaking or seeking employment as a sports massage therapist will be subject to employer checks, which may include a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Self-employed sports massage therapists can also obtain a basic criminal record certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service, which will show any unspent convictions or cautions they have.Sports massage therapists can also join voluntary registers, including the Complementary and Natural Council register, which is accredited under the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care’s Accredited Registers Programme. The Programme provides assurance to the public when choosing and using health and care services by independently assessing organisations who register practitioners who are not regulated by law.We urge anyone seeking sports massage therapy to take the time to find a reputable, insured and appropriately qualified practitioner who is on a voluntary register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

Personal Care Services: Sports

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring that all sports massage therapists undergo enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

Maria Caulfield: Anyone undertaking or seeking employment within a health or care role will be subject to employer checks, which may include a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Whatever their employment status, any individual can get a basic criminal record certificate from the DBS, which will show any unspent convictions or cautions they have.On 18 April 2023, the Independent Review of the disclosure and barring regime published its report on the effectiveness of the scheme in safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. The report concluded that the regime is delivering its mission of helping employers and organisations to make safer employment decisions but identifies several areas where the regime could be strengthened. The review recommended that self-employed individuals seeking to work with children or vulnerable adults are made eligible to apply for an enhanced DBS certificate with the relevant barred lists check.The Government is carefully considering the Review’s recommendations.

Personal Care Services: Sports

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are restrictions in place preventing sports massage therapists from treating people aged under 18.

Maria Caulfield: There are no legal restrictions in place preventing sports massage therapists from treating people aged under 18.We urge anyone seeking sports massage therapy to take the time to find a reputable, insured and appropriately qualified practitioner who is on a voluntary register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Baby Care Units

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that every hospital has or has access to a neonatal intensive care unit.

Maria Caulfield: There are three levels of neonatal critical care services, dependent upon the complexity of care required for the baby, and with dedicated transport services to support babies being transferred to and from neonatal units.In total, there are 155 hospitals that provide neonatal critical care services in England. Every year, the 10 Neonatal Critical Care Operational Delivery Networks assess the provision of neonatal services within their networks, with each service having a designated level of service. There are 43 neonatal intensive care units, and each have agreed referral pathways from the other neonatal critical care services in their network.NHS England’s three-year delivery plan for maternity and neonatal services outlines how the National Health Service will make maternity and neonatal care safer, more personalised and more equitable for women, babies and families.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 191948 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) value for money of, (b) reduction of contractual liabilities in and (c) lessons learned from its supply agreement with Valneva.

Maria Caulfield: The Department assessed the value for money of its supply agreement with Valneva at the time the agreement was terminated. As part of the termination of the contract a settlement was agreed which resulted in contract liabilities being reduced. No additional payments will be made by the Government to Valneva as part of the agreed settlement terms. The Department and the UK Health Security Agency seek to learn lessons from all contracts awarded, including the Valneva supply agreement, and apply those lessons to future agreements. We are unable to provide specific details of the settlement agreement as these are commercially sensitive.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the support for or veterans who show symptoms of PTSD (a) two, (b) five and (c) seven years after they left the Armed Forces.

Maria Caulfield: In April 2023, NHS England re-launched an integrated Op Courage service which brings together the current bespoke and separate strands into a single integrated veterans’ mental health service. This new service will make it easier for veterans to access the support they need and reduce the need for cross-referrals between services within Op Courage. NHS England will continue to evaluate the service to ensure it meets the needs of service users as part of good and standard practice.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients: Leicester East

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been sectioned under mental health legislation in Leicester East constituency in each of the last four years.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested has been provided for Leicester City Council, as the nearest equivalent to the Leicester East constituency for which data is held.  Number of detentions under the Mental Health ActNumber of people subject to detention2018/193803352019/204253852020/214704202021/22420375Source: NHS England The difference between the number of detentions and the number of people subject to detention is due to patients who have been repeatedly detained. Notes:The number of detentions under the Mental Health Act does not include uses of section 136 where the place of safety was a police station.Data after March 2022 were impacted by a cyber incident, so have not been included.

North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Review

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the review into the North East Ambulance Service.

Maria Caulfield: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS933 that I gave to the House on 12 July 2023.

Maternity Services: Leicester East

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure that staffing levels in maternity services are sustainable in Leicester East constituency and (b) help support families affected by (i) miscarriage and (ii) stillbirth.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has added £165 million of recurring investment to the annual maternity budget, beginning in 2021, to grow and support the maternity workforce and improve neonatal care, including in Leicester East.Additionally, the NHS People Plan has been developed to focus on improving the retention of National Health Service staff by prioritising staff health and wellbeing. £45 million has been invested in 2022/23 to support the continuation of 40 mental health hubs across the country, the Professional Nurse Advocates (PNAs) programme, and expanding the NHS Practitioner Health service.Mental health services around England are being expanded to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. The 33 new maternal mental health services will provide psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women with mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.

Penn Hospital: Staff

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels at Penn Hospital.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of patient safety at Penn Hospital.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the quality of patient care at Penn Hospital.

Maria Caulfield: The Department has not made any such assessments as these are matters for the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The CQC recently inspected Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in February 2023. The CQC looked at acute wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units core services at five sites, including wards at Penn Hospital.The CQC rated wards for adults of working age and psychiatric intensive care units as ‘Requires Improvement’ overall and in all domains except ‘Caring’, which was rated ‘Good’.The CQC identified five breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008. The CQC served requirement notices for the breaches and the Trust has subsequently devised an action plan to address the CQC’s concerns. The CQC monitors this regularly, including via monthly meetings with Trust leaders.

Gynaecology

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2023 to Question 905961 on Gynaecology, if his Department collates statistics on the number of people who have undergone (a) virginity testing and (b) hymenoplasty.

Maria Caulfield: The Department does not hold statistics on the number of people who have undergone virginity testing and hymenoplasty.

Penn Hospital

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings (a) he and (b) Ministers from his Department have held with members of senior and executive leadership at Penn Hospital since January 2023.

Maria Caulfield: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and other Departmental Ministers regularly engage with external organisations, including National Health Service mental health trusts, on a range of issues relating to health and social care. These are routinely published on GOV.UK.

Mental Health Services: Schools

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that there are professional mental health teams linked to schools.

Maria Caulfield: Children and young people are benefitting from the extra funding we are putting into National Health Service mental health services under the NHS Long Term Plan. This will see an additional £2.3 billion a year by March 2024 for all mental health services and will help an extra 345,000 children and young people up to the age of 25 access NHS mental health services by 2023/24.398 mental health support teams are now operational, covering 3.4 million pupils and learners in England in 6,800 schools and colleges. Over 500 are planned to be up and running by 2024.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Standards

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the performance of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in resolving NHS complaints.

Maria Caulfield: Ministers do not assess any aspect of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s performance. The Ombudsman reports to Parliament directly and is held to account through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, who hold an annual scrutiny session to evaluate his performance.

Breasts: Plastic Surgery

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take further steps to support women who were affected by Poly Implant Prothèse breast implants prior to 2012.

Maria Caulfield: The Government remains committed to protecting patient safety and women’s health.Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) breast implants have not been re-introduced to the United Kingdom market since their withdrawal in 2010.The 47,000 women who were given PIP implants, mainly in private clinics, can come forward and have those implants removed on the National Health Service if their doctors agree. Information and advice for women who think they might have PIP implants is available on NHS webpages.Since PIP breast implants were withdrawn in 2010, the health system has enacted important changes to protect against future events. The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry collects and publishes data on all types of breast implant and removal surgery in the UK since 2016.The future regulations for medical devices will enhance the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) proactive patient safety monitoring of devices, enabling earlier identification of safety issues. The future regulations will also look to enhance pre-market requirements, ensuring medical devices receive increased risk-proportionate scrutiny before they reach the market.In addition, the MHRA will improve the traceability of devices through the introduction of Unique Device Identifier requirements. The MHRA gained powers from the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 to improve transparency with respect to safety issues with devices, such as breast implants.

Mental Illness: Children

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many call-outs relating to mental ill health in children were attended by each NHS ambulance service in England in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not held centrally.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Standards

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to enforce rulings in cases of NHS complaints raised with the service.

Maria Caulfield: We are not persuaded of the need for legal enforcement powers for the Parliamentary and Health Service’s (PHSO) rulings. The PHSO has processes in place to ensure recommendations are acted upon, ranging from following up with the organisation and escalating to a senior level within the organisation if required. In the rare instances that an organisation fails or refuses to act on a PHSO recommendation, PHSO has options to escalate within Parliament and make regulators or commissioners aware of such a failure.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of children and young people presenting to community-based mental health services started to receive help within four weeks of referral in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of children and young people who made an urgent presentation to community-based mental health crisis services were seen within 24 hours from referral in each of the last five years for which data are available.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not collected centrally at present as national access and waiting times standards for these services in England has not yet been defined or set. We are working with NHS England on the introduction of new waiting time standards for both children and young people’s community-based mental health services and urgent referrals across all ages to community-based mental health crisis services, as part of its clinically led review of National Health Service access standards. A date for their introduction has not yet been set.

Maternity Disparities Taskforce

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government’s Maternity Disparities Task Force is next scheduled to meet.

Maria Caulfield: The Maternity Disparities Taskforce, which last met on 18 April 2023, brings together experts from across the health system, Government Departments and the voluntary sector to explore and consider evidence-based interventions to tackle maternal disparities. The next meeting will be scheduled in summer.Outside of taskforce meetings, the Government continues to address maternal disparities through NHS England’s Equity and Equality guidance for Local Maternity Systems, supported by a £6.8 million investment, which focuses on actions to reduce disparities for women and babies from ethnic minorities and those living in the most deprived areas.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what services his Department plans to include in community musculoskeletal hubs.

Will Quince: We are working with partners to define and scale up musculoskeletal (MSK) hubs in the community. This includes expanding access to community-based physical activity interventions and testing vocational support to help people with MSK conditions to manage their condition and remain in or return to work

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Health Services

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what percentage of community musculoskeletal services are submitting data on waiting list times.

Helen Whately: Community Health Services waiting list data is published at provider level. They submit aggregated information for service lines, irrespective of the number of integrated care boards or regions they provide services within. Published data for May 2023 shows that 96% of providers submitted data to the Community Health Services Situation Reports.

Health Services: Waiting Lists

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure the NHS meets the 10.3 per cent annual growth in treatment volumes required over the next two years to meet the elective recovery targets by 2025.

Will Quince: To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25, in addition to the £2 billion Elective Recovery Fund, to help drive up and protect elective activity. As part of the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced an additional £3.3 billion for 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the National Health Service in England, enabling rapid action to improve emergency, elective and primary care performance towards pre-pandemic levels. Taken together, this funding could deliver the equivalent of around nine million more checks and procedures and will mean that the NHS in England can aim to deliver around 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than before the pandemic.The Government has now moved its focus to cutting waits of 65 weeks or more to as near zero as possible by March 2024. To help achieve this goal, we are taking a range of actions to maximise our productivity and capacity. This includes work to reduce outpatient follow-ups by 25%, expanding community diagnostic centres, increasing surgical capacity through surgical hubs, giving patients greater choice through a national hub model, and the development of the Independent Sector Provider offer to patients.

General Practitioners

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients booked a GP (a) appointment and (b) appointment through the NHS app in June 2023.

Neil O'Brien: The data requested is not held centrally.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people who are waiting for traumatic and orthopaedic surgery for longer than 18 months.

Will Quince: The Government is taking steps with NHS England to support people waiting for appointments and surgery for long-term conditions, including in trauma and orthopaedics, by offering online support, increasing elective capacity and encouraging personalised support. As set out in its elective recovery delivery plan, the National Health Service is increasing elective capacity and improving patient pathways to reduce avoidable delays in care. This includes funding new surgical hubs and expanding those already in operation to increase elective capacity and improve treatment waiting times for patients with long-term conditions. Through improvements to patient pathways, there will be greater end-to-end support, including help to prevent patients sustaining secondary injuries. In addition, NHS England is working to develop further guidance to support local health systems to provide personalised and targeted support for patients and their carers, to help them manage their symptoms, prevent deterioration and recover effectively from treatment. NHS England launched the My Planned Care platform in February 2022, giving patients advice and support to manage their health and avoid significant deterioration of symptoms whilst they wait for appointments. This online platform includes advice on movement, medication and mental health.

General Practitioners: Mental Health

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP appointments primarily related to mental health in 2022.

Neil O'Brien: This data is not held centrally.

Diagnosis: NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to decrease the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests at Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin integrated care board.

Will Quince: NHS England’s ‘Delivery Plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ aims for 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test to receive it within six weeks by March 2025. £2.3 billion was awarded at Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will deliver additional, digitally connected diagnostic capacity and decrease the number of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests. This funding will also increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025.To help deliver additional diagnostic capacity in the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Board area, the Government has approved a CDC in Telford, which is planned to be open in October 2023. Once operational, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CDC will benefit patients with more convenient access to diagnostic checks, tests and scans, closer to their home.Nationally, during May 2023, hardworking National Health Service staff completed nearly 2.2 million diagnostic checks.

Electronic Cigarettes

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the UK delegation to the Tenth Conference of the Parties of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control will share with the World Health Organisation (a) the annual review of nicotine vaping commissioned by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and (b) other evidence on vaping produced by the UK academic community.

Neil O'Brien: The Government has regularly set out our position on vaping at the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and will do so at the next conference in Panama in November 2023.The latest ‘Vaping in England’ report published last year, which includes an array of evidence produced by the United Kingdom academic community, is publicly available online and has been shared with the World Health Organization Global Tobacco Regulators Forum.

Electronic Cigarettes: Prescriptions

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of restricting the supply of vape products to be only available through pharmacies to people with a prescription.

Neil O'Brien: No formal assessment has been made. There are no medicinally licensed vaping products approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. As such, the Government is not currently considering making vaping products prescription-only.

Food: Allergies

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including pea protein as an allergen in food labelling.

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of widening the list of mandated common allergenic ingredients of public health concern.

Neil O'Brien: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has policy responsibility for food safety, including food allergen labelling, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Food Standards Scotland are responsible for food allergen labelling in Scotland.The FSA is aware that pea protein allergies are an emerging area of concern and there are reports of adverse reactions to pea protein in the scientific literature. However, evidence on this is currently limited and the prevalence of pea protein allergies is unknown in the United Kingdom at present. As and when information is available, the FSA will assess the evidence, but have no current plans to amend the 14 allergens list. Any additions to this list would only be made based on relevant scientific evidence and views gathered through public consultation. The FSA continues to monitor the situation closely and is currently working with the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology on hidden and emerging food allergens.

Department for Education

Education and Training

Jo Gideon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help insure that training and education (a) monitors and (b) adjusts to developments in (a) artificial intelligence and (b) the needs of the green economy.

Robert Halfon: The department wants to capitalise on the opportunities technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents for education, as well as addressing its risks and challenges. The department's position on the use of generative AI in education was published on 28 March 2023. The department will keep its programme of measures under review and continue to establish a strong evidence base for technology in education. The Department launched a call for evidence on generative AI in order to gather experiences and expertise from across education, support continued evidence generation and spread best practice.The department wants to ensure everyone has the essential digital skills they need to engage with modern technology such as AI. A digital entitlement has been introduced to fully fund adults to study towards an Essential Digital Skills Qualification , up to level 1, and from September 2023, Digital Functional Skills Qualifications. Digital skills are also delivered through :T Levels with three Digital pathways, the Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs offer with a range of qualifications on offer, Skills Bootcamps with free, flexible courses in job specific skills including digital professions, and a number of apprenticeships in digital.The government has also funded a broad package of AI skills and talent initiatives throughout education. These initiatives will address the skills gap, support citizens and businesses to take advantage of AI technologies and drive economic growth.For higher education institutions, at Level 7 and above, £190 million investment includes pioneering one of the first programmes of its kind to boost the market for AI Masters courses through the Industrial Funded Masters in AI programme, investing £117 million to create PhDs through UKRI Centres for Doctoral Training in AI, £46 million to develop the Turing AI Fellowships, and up to £30 million in the AI and Data Science Conversion Course and Scholarships programme.Developing the department’s green skills offer is crucial to ensuring the UK can meet its statutory Net Zero Strategy and Environment Act targets. The department is helping to create a sustainable future through education, developing skills needed for a green economy, and supporting sectors to reach net zero. The needs of the green economy are being monitored through our Unit for Future Skills (UFS) and the Green Jobs Delivery Group (GJDG).The UFS was set up to improve the quality of jobs and skills data to better understand current skills mismatches and future demand. The GJDG is the central forum for driving forward action on green jobs and skills across government and industry. In the Government’s 2023 Powering Up Britain: Net Zero Growth Plan, the GJDG committed to publishing an action plan in 2024. This will include sectoral assessments that will support the department to identify opportunities to flex the skills system.The Strategy for Sustainability and Climate Change in the Education System, published by the department in April 2022, sets out detail on how the system will help create a sustainable future through education and develop the skills needed for a green economy. The strategy sets out initiatives including extra support for teaching about nature and climate change, the introduction of a Natural History GCSE, a National Education Nature Park, Climate Action Award and support for head teachers to take a whole setting approach to climate change. The National Education Nature Park and Climate Action Award will provide educational opportunities for children and young people to take part in community science, in biodiversity monitoring, mapping and data analysis learning important skills for the future.

Teachers: Resignations

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in schools in each region other than the North West and North East left the profession in the academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23.

Nick Gibb: Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.Information on the school workforce in England, including the number of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.The table attached provides the latest data for the academic years 2019/20 to 2021/22 of the FTE number of qualified teachers leaving and the leaving rate, from state funded schools, by region. For consistency with previously provided information, entrants numbers and rates have also been provided.Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.FTE_teachers_region_table (pdf, 124.4KB)

Further Education: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the funding model for further education colleges; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Halfon: In January 2021, the government published the ‘Skills for Jobs’ White Paper, which sets out the department’s vision for a skills system that supports people to access the skills required to progress their careers and access the jobs the economy needs. In the two years since the department published the White Paper, we have also published two consultations on funding and accountability reforms. The department sought views on the strategic aims and on more detailed technical aspects of our reforms.The government’s response to the second consultation, Skills for jobs: implementing a new further education funding and accountability system’ has now been published, summarising the responses received and detailing the department’s further education funding and accountability policy decisions. The government’s response is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/implementing-a-new-fe-funding-and-accountability-system.On adult skills funding, the department’s aims have been to simplify the system and improve the outcomes achieved with taxpayer investment. On funding, the department is ensuring that providers can use the Adult Skills Fund flexibly and has set out the outcomes that tailored learning should support. The department has also introduced five new skills funding bands, with sector subject areas at tier 2 level assigned to one of these bands with specialist land-based provision, and areas of high policy importance such as functional skills continuing to receive higher levels of funding.The department is increasing investment in adult skills with additional funding for apprenticeships and adult training through the National Skills Fund alongside increased funding in 16-19 and £2.8 billion of capital funding. The new skills funding rates will boost funding for 78% of courses from the 2024/25 academic year. In the interim period, the department is increasing the funding providers can earn within the adult education budget. All formula funded provision will see a 2.2% increase each year with further increases of 20% for specific high value subjects and the new funding rates for 2024/25 reflect these increases. The mayoral combined authorities and Greater London Authority are free to use their adult education budget allocation as they see fit.The department is increasing funding for providers in advance of the new funding rates, by increasing provider earnings for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, which were announced recently. The department is allowing providers to use a proportion of their Adult Skills Fund allocation to work with employers to develop new innovative provision that meets local skills needs. The department is also maintaining the existing system of funding for disadvantage, learning support and learner support.The department is continuing to look at how it can simplify funding further for further education, particularly in light of reclassification. This will include looking at the number and complexity of data returns, coordination of activity across devolved and non-devolved bodies, and streamlining processes and rules to reduce burden.

Higher Education: British Nationals Abroad

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to grant an exemption to siblings of UK nationals living in Europe and studying at UK universities prior to 1 January 2028 to allow them to qualify for (a) home fee status for university tuition and (b) student finance for courses starting after 1 January 2028.

Robert Halfon: The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2011 define a family member of a UK national as either the person's spouse or civil partner, direct descendants of the person, or the person's spouse or civil partner who are either under the age of 21, or dependants. There are no plans to amend this definition to include siblings.UK nationals and their family members who were living in the European Economic Area (EEA) (excluding the UK and Gibraltar) or Switzerland on 31 December 2020, or who returned to live in the UK on or after 1 January 2018 following a period of ordinary residence in the EEA or Switzerland, continue to be eligible for home fee status, tuition fee loans and maintenance support for courses commencing before 1 January 2028. This measure was introduced so as to ensure a substantial transition period for those UK nationals who had moved to the EEA or Switzerland prior to the end of the transition period. The department has no plans to extend this period further.

Students: Loans

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support individuals on student loan plans (a) 2 and (b) 4.

Robert Halfon: Decisions on student finance have to be taken alongside other spending priorities to ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs of higher education (HE) are shared fairly between students and taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to university.The government has continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs for plan 2 student loans each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.3% for the 2022/23 academic year, with a further 2.8% increase announced for 2023/24. In addition, the department is freezing maximum tuition fees for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years to deliver better value for students and to keep the costs of HE under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.The government recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. The department has made £276 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support successful outcomes for students, including disadvantaged students.Student loans are available to all eligible students, irrespective of background or financial history, and include significant protections. Monthly student loan repayments are calculated by income rather than by interest rates or the amount borrowed. If a borrower’s earnings are below the relevant repayment threshold, they will not be required to make any repayments. At the end of the loan term, or in case of death or disability, any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be written off at no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of protection. To further protect borrowers, where the government considers that the student loan interest rate is too high in comparison to the prevailing market rate, it will reduce the maximum plan 2, plan 3 and plan 5 interest rate.Plan 4 student loans are issued by the Scottish Government, which has responsibility for HE in Scotland and determines the student finance arrangements for Scottish students.

Work Experience: Pupils

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people aged 18 and under have undertaken work experience in each year since 2013.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of providing work experience for all secondary school pupils.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of ensuring that all secondary school pupils have an opportunity to undertake work experience on (a) disadvantaged children and (b) inclusivity.

Nick Gibb: Every pupil should have first hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand their networks. Experiences of the workplace should be tailored to the individual needs of the pupils involved and can demonstrate the capabilities of these pupils while providing them with first hand knowledge of the working environment.Research evidence analysed for The Careers & Enterprise Company suggests that work experience, supported internships or employment, employee preparation programmes, self determination training and family involvement are effective in enabling pupils and young adults with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to make a successful move from school to further or higher education, training, employment, or self-employment.Research has also shown that disadvantaged pupils, who have fewer connections and social networks, disproportionately benefit from high quality interactions with employers. The Department knows that pupils who have had four or more encounters with employers, are 86% less likely to become not in education, employment or training (NEET), and they are likely to go on to earn 18% more.The Careers & Enterprise Company works with employers to open experiences of the workplace with the benefit of improving the career outcomes for pupils. Employers who take an active role in the careers process of pupils, can realise a whole host of benefits, from identifying a diverse range of skills and abilities they need within their own business, to improving their employee engagement and development.Secondary schools and colleges are expected to adopt the Government’s careers framework, the Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance, to develop and improve their careers programmes. The benchmarks describe eight aspects of high quality careers guidance based on international evidence. The proportion of schools and colleges fully achieving Gatsby Benchmark 6, experiences of the workplace, has increased from 37% in 2017/18 to 52% in 2021/22. Recent analysis also shows that 93% of students in reporting schools and colleges had at least one employer encounter last academic year, up from 82% in 2018/19. This shows that pupils are gaining more opportunities for work and the skills they need to succeed.The Department’s grant funding arrangement with The Careers & Enterprise Company represents good value for money to the public purse, at around £30 million this year. This funding is provided to support schools and colleges in delivering high quality careers programmes, in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks and including support for schools and colleges to facilitate experiences for the workplace for pupils.The current delivery model, working towards the eight Gatsby Benchmarks with support from The Careers & Enterprise Company, encourages schools and colleges to take a strategic approach to employer engagement, ensuring careers provision is embedded and sustainable in the long term.

Teachers: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to (a) encourage people to enter the teaching profession and (b) improve staff retention in the education sector.

Nick Gibb: Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes it the highest number of FTE teachers on record since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.The Department’s reforms are aimed at increasing teacher recruitment and at ensuring teachers across England stay and thrive in the profession.The Get Into Teaching service helps make teaching a career of choice and supports candidates to apply for teacher training. Prospective trainees can access support and advice through expert one to one teacher training advisers, a contact centre and a national programme of events. The teaching marketing campaign provides inspiration and support to explore a career in teaching and directs people to the Get Into Teaching service: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/.The Department announced a financial incentives package worth up to £181 million for those starting Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2023/24 academic year. The Department is providing bursaries worth up to £27,000 and scholarships worth up to £29,000 to encourage trainees to apply to train in key secondary subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing. Additionally, for 2022/23, the Department raised starting salaries outside London by 8.9% to £28,000.The Department provides a levelling up premium worth up to £3,000 annually for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools nationally, including within Education Investment Areas. The eligibility criteria and list of eligible schools are available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/levelling-up-premium-payments-for-teachers.The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers, underpinned by the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-core-content-framework and the Early Career Framework available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-career-framework. Together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.To support retention in the sector, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the workload reduction toolkit available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workload-reduction-toolkit and the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-staff-wellbeing-charter. More than 2,700 schools have signed up to the Charter so far.

Ofsted: Paper

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Ofsted (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and  (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Ofqual (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Office for Students (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Office of the Children's Commissioner (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Student Loans Company (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Oak National Academy (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much Social Work England (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Nick Gibb: Budgets and spend relating to office supplies and other office costs is a matter for the relevant non-ministerial department or Executive non-departmental public body. The Department neither holds nor is required to hold this information.

Department for Education: Paper

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much her Department (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Education and Skills Funding Agency (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Standards and Testing Agency (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Teaching Regulation Agency (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on its office paper costs in (i) the current financial year and (ii) each of the last five financial years.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not specifically budget for or capture financial data narrowly on paper costs for the core Department and its agencies, due to how office occupancy and facilities management (including access to printing services) is structured. The Department does report paper consumption in its Annual Report and Accounts as part of the sustainability reporting requirements in central government. On the basis of these consumption numbers and applying indicative market prices for paper the estimated paper costs in 2022-23 and the previous five years for the Department and its Agencies is as follows:  Actual performance 2022-232021-222020-212019-202018-192017-18  BaselineReams of Paper11,81612,38512,36922,34834,37427,250Expected cost£53,172£49,929£42,242£76,680£121,032£92,887

Teachers

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to support teachers following the recommendations of her Department's research report entitled Working lives of teachers and leaders, published in April 2023.

Nick Gibb: The ‘Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders’ longitudinal study explores the experiences of teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders working in schools in England. The study covers a range of areas including workload, school culture and leadership, career reflections and future ambitions.The report, published in April 2023, summarised findings from wave 1 of the study, which was carried out in spring 2022. Although this research report does not make any recommendations, the Department will use the findings as part of its broader research programme on the teaching workforce to design policies that better support teachers, middle leaders and senior leaders.The Department continues to take steps to support teachers with reforms aimed at increasing teacher recruitment in key subjects and areas, through an attractive pay offer and financial incentives such as bursaries, and also at ensuring teachers stay and succeed in the profession.On 13 July 2023, the Department announced that it is accepting the School Teachers Review Body’s recommendations in full for the 2023/24 pay award for teachers and headteachers, which means that teachers and headteachers in maintained schools will receive a pay award of 6.5%. This is the highest pay award for teachers in over 30 years. This comes on top of the record pay rise in 2022/23 of 5.4% on average, meaning that over two years teacher pay is increasing by more than 12% on average. This award also delivers the manifesto commitment of a minimum £30,000 starting salary for school teachers in all regions of the country, with a pay award of up to 7.1% for new teachers outside London.To support teacher retention, the Department has worked with the education sector and published a range of resources to help address staff workload and wellbeing and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. This includes the School Workload Reduction Toolkit and the education Staff Wellbeing Charter. More than 2,700 schools and colleges have signed up to the Charter, which has been downloaded over 30,000 times.Building on a successful pilot, the Department is providing over £1.1 million to provide professional supervision and counselling to school and college leaders. Over 1,000 headteachers have benefitted from the support so far. On 12 June 2023, the Department announced the expansion of the programme, doubling places this year, so that more headteachers can have access to this valuable support.

Teachers: Training

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to help reduce repetition between initial teacher training courses and the early career framework.

Nick Gibb: To build knowledge and expertise, novice teachers need to progressively deepen their understanding of a range of concepts and, crucially, be able to connect and apply this knowledge to their practice in any context or situation. This determines the influence a teacher can have on the pupils with whom they work.The Core Content Framework (CCF) provides the foundation for this and by the end of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), teachers will be familiar with concepts related to teaching and will have started to apply them in their practice. Acquiring knowledge takes time, and familiarity is not the same as long term experience, which allows teachers to do this thoughtfully across a range of contexts. The Early Career Framework (ECF) intentionally returns to these concepts to develop and deepen teachers’ knowledge and expertise and enable them to become more expert practitioners over the first two years of their career.The Department has committed to reviewing the CCF and ECF alongside each other. Building on the first few years of ECF delivery, there is a plan to review and revise the CCF and ECF into more closely combined frameworks which cover the first three years or more at the start of a teacher’s career and articulates what trainee and new teachers need to know and need to know how to do.This revised CCF and ECF will underpin a joined up sequence of training and development over at least the first three years of new teachers’ careers to support them at the start of their new career. The Department aims to ensure that what new teachers study across these early years of their career delivers continuous, coherent and complementary knowledge for all trainees and new teachers and provides the confidence and expertise for a lifelong career in teaching.

Teachers: Training

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to support delivery partners of accredited initial teacher training providers to ensure they know how many teachers they will be able to recruit.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not limit the number of trainees that lead partners of accredited Initial Teacher Training providers can recruit. Lead partners work closely with their accredited provider to determine their course capacity, ensuring they have enough placement schools to support the trainees they recruit.

Teachers: Training

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to support accredited initial teacher training providers to support their new delivery partners.

Nick Gibb: Ahead of the delivery of reformed Initial Teacher Training (ITT) from September 2024, the Department is working closely with accredited ITT providers to facilitate partnerships, to help them build their capacity to cover areas that require greater provision.The Department is encouraging accredited providers to partner with those who were unsuccessful in gaining accreditation, as this will bring together high quality provision with local expertise, connections and experience.In December 2022, the Department published ITT Partnership guidance which contains detailed information on how accredited providers can work with unaccredited organisations to form strong partnerships. This work is also supported by the Department’s dedicated Provider Relationship Managers.Accredited providers were also able to apply for a grant of up to £20,000 to develop partnerships to deliver ITT provision in target regions of historically low provision.The Department is reviewing the readiness of accredited providers’ partnerships for 2024 delivery through the Stage 2 process. In this stage, ITT experts, who have experience of ITT delivery and a thorough understanding of the ITT reforms, review partnership arrangements and provide additional support to providers and their delivery partners.The Department’s priority is to ensure that the new standards and expectations will continue to be met by all institutions delivering ITT within a partnership.

Turing Scheme

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an equalities impact assessment of (a) the length of placements and (b) the timing of funding payments for the Turing Scheme.

Robert Halfon: The Secretary of State for Education carried out an Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) into the Turing Scheme during the design stage of policy development as a way of facilitating and evidencing compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty contained in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. This requires public authorities to have due regard to several equality considerations when exercising their functions.Under the Turing Scheme, eligible organisations in each education sector have flexibility to design projects in line with their needs and those of their students, including setting the duration of mobilities within a broad window above 4 weeks to 12 months in higher education (HE), 2 weeks to 12 months in further education, and 3 days to 6 months in schools. The department reduced the minimum duration of HE placements to 4 weeks, which is half the shortest duration previously permitted under the Erasmus+ Programme. This is intended to widen access to international opportunities to people from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom the duration of an international placements may represent a potential barrier to participation.The Turing Scheme is creating more opportunities than ever before for students across the UK who were previously unlikely to take up international exchanges. Of the more than 40,000 pupils, learners and students who will have the opportunity to do study and work placements across the globe this year, nearly two thirds of these opportunities will be for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.The Turing Scheme is a demand led, competitive programme with an annual application cycle. Successful applicant institutions are notified of their funding allocation before the start of the academic year and before the funding period for international placements commences. Once the grant agreement is in place, it is the responsibility of grant recipients to make timely requests for payments, so that they can disburse funding to their participants at the point of need.The department will continue to work closely with the scheme’s delivery partner to collect and act on feedback from participating organisations and sector stakeholders, including on the payment mechanism and timing.

Higher Education: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to address funding challenges in higher education.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help support the financial position of universities in the long term.

Robert Halfon: The government has supported English and EU domiciled students with £10.7 billion in subsidised higher education (HE) tuition fee loans paid out in the 2022/23 financial year. The government believes that freezing fees at their current level for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years achieves the best balance between ensuring that the system remains sustainable, offering good value for the taxpayer, and controlling debt levels for students.The government is also investing approximately £750 million in additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.The Strategic Priorities Grant is funding supplied by the government on an annual basis to support teaching and students in HE, including expensive to deliver subjects, such as science and engineering, students at risk of discontinuing their studies, and world-leading specialist providers. The recurrent Strategic Priorities Grant budget is £1,454 million for the 2023/24 financial year. This is an increase of 4% from last year.

Racial Discrimination: Education

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department takes to monitor the content of (a) training and (b) lessons on critical race theory provided by (i) FLAIR and (ii) other third party organisations.

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the number of external providers teaching critical race theory in schools.

Nick Gibb: Political issues relating to racial and social justice can be taught in a balanced and factual manner, just as pupils are often taught a range of different views on other topics, but schools should not teach contested theories and opinions as fact.The Department is aware that there has been increasing focus on political impartiality in schools over the last few years. This has been challenging for head teachers, teachers and staff, given a lack of clarity regarding what the legal duties in this area really mean.  That is why the Department has published clear and comprehensive guidance to help those working with and in schools to better understand legal duties on political impartiality. A link to the guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools.As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects. It is important that schools take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable, and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. When teaching, schools should consider the age of pupils and their religious and cultural backgrounds.Schools are ultimately responsible for making sure the resources they use are suitable for their pupils. The Department’s guidance includes advice to help schools make good choices.

Teachers: Resignations

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide the number of teachers by gender that left the profession in academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23 to date in England.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide the number of teachers by subject taught that left the profession in academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23 to date in England.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide details of the most common reasons provided for teacher absences in academic years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21, (c) 2021-22 and (d) 2022-23 to date.

Nick Gibb: Recent data shows that there are now over 468,000 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers in state funded schools in England, which is an increase of 27,000 (6%) since 2010. This makes the highest number of FTE teachers since the School Workforce Census began in 2010.Information on the school workforce in England, including the number and characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, working pattern and post) of teachers joining and leaving service nationally, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. This information by gender is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b82526d-9d49-4c9b-c47f-08db81eb944a.Figures for 2022/23 leavers are not available yet as they will be identified by their absence from the November 2023 census.The requested figures for leavers by subject taught are not available.Leavers are defined as qualified teachers leaving the state funded sector in England, for example due to a change of career or joining other UK education sectors, and those leaving on career breaks, such as maternity leave or secondments outside of the school sector. Some of these teachers may rejoin a state funded school in England at a later date.The Department collects information on teacher absence from state funded schools via the School Workforce Census. The number of working days lost due to absence are collected for sickness absence and pregnancy related absences only. This information is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/f5ba72da-be42-4d81-d365-08db81e98ab0. Further granularity, such as the type of sickness absence, is not centrally collected.

Further Education and Schools: Electronic Cigarettes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help schools and colleges address vaping by their pupils.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage education about vaping in schools.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide support for schools to place heat detectors on school premises to detect vaping.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on vaping in schools.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she is taking steps to encourage schools to (a) record and (b) monitor vaping by their pupils.

Nick Gibb: The Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance states that, in both primary and secondary school, pupils should be taught the facts regarding legal and illegal harmful substances and associated risks, including smoking, alcohol use, and drug taking.To support schools to deliver this content effectively, the Department published a suite of teacher training modules, including content on drugs, alcohol and tobacco, which makes specific reference to e-cigarettes.In addition, content on drugs, alcohol and tobacco is taught in compulsory health education. This supplements drug education which is part of the national curriculum for science in Key Stages 2 and 3.Schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy that sets out what is expected of all pupils, including what items are banned from school premises. This should be communicated to all pupils, parents and school staff.Schools have the autonomy to decide which items should be banned from their premises, and these can include vapes. Items banned by the school can be searched for as outlined in the Department’s Searching, screening and confiscation guidance, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/searching-screening-and-confiscation.The Department believes that this will help head teachers to manage vaping on school premises and to inform pupils on the risks, with a view to reducing the numbers of pupils who are currently vaping, or who might be tempted to try it in the future.The Department trusts head teachers to develop tailored behaviour policies which reflect their school’s individual contexts and needs and to decide the best methods to enforce these policies.Officials in the Department have engaged with officials in the Department for Health and Social Care to discuss the use of e-cigarettes as part of health education which includes content on drugs, alcohol and tobacco.The Department has brought forward the review of the RSHE statutory guidance, which commenced in March 2023 and on 1 June 2023, the Prime Minister announced an intervention taking steps to prevent pupils acquiring e-cigarettes illegally. As part of this, the Department is planning to include the risks of using e-cigarettes in the RSHE curriculum, following the RSHE review.The Department expects to publish an amended draft of the statutory guidance for consultation in the autumn, with a view to a final version being published in 2024.

Apprentices: Degrees

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to support (a) De Montfort University and (b) the University of Leicester to increase the availability of degree apprenticeships.

Robert Halfon: Degree apprenticeships provide people with high-quality training and are important in supporting productivity, social mobility and widening participation in higher education (HE) and employment.The department has seen year-on-year growth of degree-level apprenticeships (Levels 6 and 7), with over 188,000 starts since their introduction in the 2014/15 academic year, and wants to further accelerate the growth of degree apprenticeships.The department invested £8 million in the 2022/23 financial year through the Strategic Priorities Grant to enable HE institutions to grow degree level apprenticeship provision and form new employer partnerships. Both De Montfort University and the University of Leicester were successful in receiving funding.The University of Leicester also recently launched the Space Systems Engineer degree level apprenticeship, which will offer new, exciting opportunities for people wanting to start or progress in the space industry.To support providers to further expand their existing apprenticeship offers, the department is now providing an additional £40 million over the next two years through the Strategic Priorities Grant, and encourages both universities to apply for this funding when the competitive bidding process is launched later this year.

Overseas Students: Visas

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the potential impact of the University and College Union marking and assessment boycott on student visa applications by students (a) studying at a UK higher education institution in the 2022-23 academic year and (b) who wish to apply to study at a UK higher education institution in the 2023-24 academic year; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the boycott on the international reputation of UK higher education institutions.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has held discussions with representatives of higher education institutions on the potential impact of the University and College Union marking and assessment boycott (a) the experience of students at affected institutions, (b) the reputation of the higher education sector and (c) international students who wish to continue studying in the UK and require an award decision to apply for a visa from the UK.

Robert Halfon: The department understands that the vast majority of students will remain unaffected by the industrial action and, in most cases, will receive their full results on time and progress and/or graduate as normal.The Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has published research findings which surveyed 49% of higher education (HE) institutions in the New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff. These institutions provided updated feedback on the impact of the marking and assessment boycott on students at their institutions:Over 70% of HE institutions said that ‘less than 2% of students’ will be unable to graduate this summer due to the boycott.A further 20% were ‘unsure’ of the number.4% of HE institutions said ‘between 2% and 9% of students’ would be impacted.These research findings can be accessed at: https://www.ucea.ac.uk/news-releases/23june23/.On 22 June 2023, I met with Universities UK (UUK), the Russell Group, and UCEA to better understand the impact that this boycott will have on students and the mitigating actions their members are taking to protect students’ interests.I have also written to the Russell Group and UUK, encouraging them to continue to do everything within their powers to protect the interests of students during this phase of industrial action. On 27 June 2023, I met with a number of HE representative groups to discuss the marking and assessment boycott, including the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.HE institutions are working on minimising the disruption to their students in a variety of ways, including reallocating marking to other staff members, and hiring external markers. Many HE institutions can award degrees when they have enough evidence of a student’s prior attainment to do so. Others will be able to assign provisional grades to students to allow them to progress.The government believes students should be at the heart of the HE system. This is why we set up the Office for Students (OfS) to regulate the HE sector in England, protect student rights, and ensure the sector is delivering real value for money. The OfS has published guidance to students on their rights during industrial action at: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-rights-and-welfare/student-guide-to-industrial-action/.On 12 June 2023, the OfS wrote to institutions affected by the boycott to reiterate its expectations in relation to its conditions of registration. The OfS will continue to monitor this ongoing situation through their normal regulatory mechanisms.Students who have complaints about their HE experience should contact their provider in the first instance. Students in England and Wales may also raise a complaint with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), which was set up to provide an alternative to the courts and is free of charge to students. Further information is available at: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.We are exercising operational discretion to ensure students can still apply to the graduate route whilst the marking and assessment boycott continues.If it is necessary for a student who intends to apply to the ‘graduate’ route to apply to extend their permission whilst waiting for their results due to the boycott, they will be exceptionally exempt from meeting academic progression requirements. All other requirements of the ‘student’ route, including having a new confirmation of acceptance for studies, will still need to be met.This a discretionary arrangement and not a concessionary policy. It is being communicated in a way that is proportionate to the nature and type of the issue covered. We encourage the sector, including sponsors, to drive the dissemination of this flexibility, as the circumstances are the result of a dispute between institutions and their employees.We have a world class university sector, with four institutions in the world’s top 10, and the government fully expects the UK to continue to be a major destination of choice for international students.We hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff and universities, so further industrial action can be avoided.  The department will continue to engage with the HE sector over the coming weeks to help better understand the boycott’s impact on students and the mitigating actions HE institutions are taking to protect their students’ interests.

Birkbeck, University of London: Mathematics

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has had discussions with representative of Birkbeck University on its proposed reductions to its Mathematics and Statistics Department.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions to university mathematics departments budgets on the UK’s ambition to become a global science and technology superpower by 2030.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of incentives to universities of ensuring that mathematics courses are widely available.

Robert Halfon: Higher education (HE) providers are independent, autonomous institutions, responsible for their own decisions on staffing issues, including how they structure themselves to deliver research and teaching priorities. Where it is necessary to reshape their activities, it is important that universities carefully consider the impact of job losses on staff and students, and the overall sustainability of teaching and research in this country.The department will continue to work closely with the Office for Students (OfS) and various parties, including a variety of HE providers across the sector, mission groups and other government departments, to understand the ongoing impacts and changing landscape of financial sustainability in the HE sector.We want to provide a ladder of opportunity for everyone to get the education and skills they need for job security and prosperity and to support levelling up across the country. Access to HE should be based on a student’s attainment and their ability to succeed, rather than background.The government has issued guidance to the OfS, asking it to refocus the entire access and participation regime to create a system that supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring students are able to make the right choices and to access and succeed on high quality courses that are valued by employers and lead to good graduate employment.John Blake, as the Director for Fair Access and Participation, is driving forward this important change. Using his experience and expertise from the schools’ sector, he is supporting and challenging HE providers to identify what will ultimately help students progress on their course and obtain good outcomes from their degree, such as programmes of intervention in schools, summer schools, and targeted bursaries to assist with living costs.The government is committed to cementing the UK’s status as a science and technology superpower, levelling up across the country.To achieve this, the UK needs talented people with the right knowledge, skills, and experience. The department is investing in programmes that do this at all levels of education.The Prime Minister has set a new mission for all young people to study maths to age 18, equipping them with the skills they need for the modern economy. Our driving principle is to ensure that all young people are equipped with the right maths knowledge and skills to thrive, whatever their chosen pathway.On 17 April 2023, the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education set out how we will take the next steps towards delivering this mission. This includes:Convening an expert advisory group to advise on the essential maths knowledge and skills young people need to study to the age of 18.Commissioning research on post-16 maths provision around the world, ensuring the curriculum in this country rivals that of the highest performing countries.The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education working with employers to review the maths content in apprenticeships.The department is investing an additional £750 million over the three year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to support high quality teaching and facilities including in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the HE sector to support students and teaching in over a decade.Several government strategies are in place to support our science and technology superpower ambition, in specific areas including the 2023 Science and Technology Framework , which sets out our approach to making the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030. The 2021 National AI Strategy, and the 2022 UK Digital Strategy set out how we will strengthen our reserves of talent and skills in order to drive success.

Care Leavers: Departmental Coordination

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Ministers sit on the cross-government ministerial board for care leavers; how many times the board has met in the last 12 months; and if she will publish the board's minutes for the last 12 months.

Claire Coutinho: The Care Leavers Inter-Ministerial Board is co-chaired by the Secretary of State for Education, and the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Ministers that sit on the Board include:Minister for Children, Families and WellbeingMinister for Veterans’ Affairs (and Cross-Government lead for Care Leavers)Chief Secretary to the TreasuryMinister of State for JusticeMinister for SafeguardingMinister for Social Mobility, Youth and ProgressionMinister for Enterprise, Markets and Small BusinessMinister for Primary Care and Public HealthParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport, Gambling and Civil SocietyParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Roads and Local TransportMinister for Energy Consumers and AffordabilityMinister for Defence People, Veterans and Service FamiliesThe Ministerial Board has met twice in the last year. Minutes of meetings are not published.

Disability: Children

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support families caring for disabled children.

Claire Coutinho: It is the responsibility of local authorities, schools, and further education settings to commission appropriately qualified staff to support the education of children and young people in their area.The department’s reforms, as set out in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan and the Children’s Social Care Implementation strategy, detail the department’s commitments for providing stronger support for disabled children, including:a Law Commission review of children’s social care legislation for disabled childrennon-stigmatising and easier to access family helpa stronger focus on disabled children in Working Togethernew metrics that track the experiences of disabled children through the systemstrengthened language to encourage areas to adopt Designated Social Care Officersa £30 million investment in innovative approaches to short breaks for disabled children.

Holiday Play Schemes: Low Incomes

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps with local authorities to provide subsidised holiday club spaces to children from low-income families who are not eligible for free school meals.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the number of opportunities that children from low-income families have to participate in activities during the summer holidays.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the affordability of school holiday clubs.

Claire Coutinho: The department recognises that school holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs such as food and childcare, and reduced incomes. For some children, that can lead to a holiday experience gap, with children from disadvantaged families less likely to access organised out-of-school activities, more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health and are more likely to experience social isolation. Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people.This year, the government is again investing over £200 million in our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, with all local authorities in England delivering the programme in the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays. The HAF programme provides heathy meals, enriching activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing and learning. Last summer, the programme reached around 600,000 children across England, including over 475,000 children eligible for free school meals across England.The department’s 2021 independent evaluation of the 2021 HAF summer programme found that 730,000 children attended a HAF summer holiday club in person, of which 616,000 places were directly funded by HAF and 498,000 were eligible for benefits-related free school meals (FSM). The evaluation also found that two-thirds of HAF attendees lived in one of the 30% most deprived areas across the country.As in previous years, local authorities have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF, such as other vulnerable children. This could include, where appropriate, providing places at HAF clubs that support working families. In deciding which children should benefit from the 15% flexible funding, local authorities are asked to ensure that these places are aligned to their local priorities. The department also encourages all our providers to offer paid places, alongside HAF-funded, to increase the reach of holiday clubs. Clubs must provide healthy free meals, nutritional education, and physical activities on a daily basis.

Classroom Assistants: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to help ensure that teaching assistants providing SEND and mental health support are trained and remunerated in provision of those specialists skills.

Nick Gibb: The Department values and appreciates the dedication, professionalism, and hard work of Teaching Assistants (TAs) and recognises the valuable contribution they make to pupils’ education alongside teachers, particularly when supporting pupils with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).Support staff play a key role in supporting pupils with SEND. On 2 March 2023, the Department published the SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Improvement plan in response to the Green Paper published in March 2022. This outlines the Government’s plan for the SEND and AP system to fulfil pupils’ potential, build parents’ trust and provide financial sustainability. The plan can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1139561/SEND_and_alternative_provision_improvement_plan.pdf.In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, the Department confirmed its commitment to setting out clear guidance on the effective use and deployment of TAs to support pupils with SEND. This will be done through the new SEND and AP practice guides, enabling TAs and learning support assistants to make best use of the available provision set out in the National Standards and setting expectations for good practice in meeting the needs of individual pupils.Reaching over 70% of schools and further education colleges, the Universal Services programme will help the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND earlier and more effectively. It will also help them to successfully prepare pupils for adulthood, including employment. So far, over 5,700 school and college staff, including TAs, have accessed free online training modules, and over 70 schools and 135 colleges have identified and led their own SEND focused school improvement project. These have focused on SEND Governance, TA deployment and early identification of SEND. Universal training modules are available to all school and college staff at all stages of their careers, at the point of need, with a particular focus on mainstream settings.Ultimately, schools are best placed to make decisions on the continuing professional development (CPD) that best meets the needs of their support staff, as they do for teachers' CPD.The Government’s education reforms gave schools the freedom to make their own decisions about recruitment, pay, conditions, and use of TAs. Schools should have the freedom to make these decisions, as they are best placed to understand their pupils’ needs.Many schools pay TAs according to local Government pay scales. These are set through negotiations between the Local Government Association, which represents the employer, and Local Government trade unions (UNISON, Unite, and the GMB), which represent the employee. Central Government does not have any formal role in these matters.

Schools: Uniforms

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the provisions of the statutory guidance entitled Cost of school uniforms published in November 2021 are enforced.

Nick Gibb: The statutory guidance on the cost of school uniforms came into force in September 2022, so all schools should now be compliant. The only exception to this would be where this would breach a pre-existing supplier arrangement. The statutory guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms.If parents are concerned about the cost of their child’s school uniform, they should raise this with the school, including through the school’s published complaints process where necessary.If a parent is unhappy with the outcome of their complaint, they can raise this with the Department. The Department will consider whether the uniform policy meets the requirements of the guidance. The Department can use its existing statutory and funding agreement levers to make sure schools follow the guidance.

Teachers: Training

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to include training on therapeutic mental health approaches as part of teacher training courses.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to require all teachers to have training in mental health therapeutic approaches.

Nick Gibb: The Department want all schools to be calm, safe, supportive environments that promote and support pupils’ mental wellbeing. However, teachers are not mental health professionals and should not be expected to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (CCF) has been designed in the knowledge that the quality of teaching is the most important factor in improving outcomes for pupils. Managing pupil wellbeing is recognised within that. Careful consideration has been given to the needs of trainee teachers to support pupils holistically, and the Early Career Framework (ECF) builds on that learning for early career teachers. These reforms support the Department’s ambition that all new teachers starting in the profession learn how to meet the needs of all pupils.Both the CCF and the ECF outline what trainee and new teachers should understand in respect of adaptive teaching and meeting pupil needs. The CCF sets out a minimum entitlement for trainee teachers and places a duty on providers of initial teacher training and their partner schools to meet this entitlement through their course curricula. Courses must be designed so that trainee teachers can demonstrate that they meet the Teachers’ Standards at the appropriate level. This includes the requirement in Standard 5, that all teachers must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils.The Department is exploring opportunities to build teacher expertise through a review of the CCF and ECF frameworks. Aiming to conclude by the end of 2023, the review will identify how the frameworks can equip new teachers to be more confident in meeting the needs of pupils and young people.The Department has put in place a wide range of additional training and guidance to help education staff understand and respond to mental health issues in schools. This includes offering all state schools and colleges a grant to train a senior mental health lead by 2025, enabling them to introduce effective, whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing. More than 13,800 schools and colleges have now received a senior mental health lead training grant, including more than 7 in 10 state funded secondary schools.Teachers can access online resources such as Psychological First Aid training and the MindEd e-learning platform. The National Professional Qualification for Leading Behaviour and Change can also help teachers who support pupil wellbeing.

Ministry of Justice

Probate: Contracts

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which companies are working on behalf of HM Courts and Tribunals Service to process probate applications; and what services each company is providing.

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the reasons for which probate applications are being delayed; and what steps his Department is taking to help tackle these delays.

Mike Freer: HMCTS currently uses Exela Technologies Limited to scan paper probate applications and original wills onto our case management system. Exela has no role in assessing applications or authorising the production of grants of probate.The probate service received record levels of applications during 2022 and this has continued to grow with significantly higher levels of receipts during January to March 2023. Whilst HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand the training and upskilling of those new and existing staff has led to applications taking longer in the short term.HMCTS is focused on increasing outputs to reduce overall timeliness on all types of applications and the average mean length of time taken for a grant of probate, following receipt of the documents required, is 9 weeks.Average waiting times for probate grants, are routinely published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly and currently cover the period up to March 2023.

Trials

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of court trials for (a) rape, (b) sexual assault, (c) violence against a person, (d) murder, (e) theft, (f) possession of weapons and (g) fraud have been delayed each year since 2010.

Mike Freer: We have interpreted your request as being for ineffective trials, which is where the trial does not commence on the due date and requires rescheduling. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as the absence of a defendant or a witness or adjournment requests from either the prosecution or defence.The tables attached set out the data held by the Ministry of Justice on ineffective trials for each offence type, in volume and against the total listed trials for that offence type.Crown Court data is available from 2014 onwards.The Covid-19 pandemic affected the Crown Courts’ ability to effectively list trials. The ineffective trial rate notably increased in 2020, primarily due to increases in defendant illness or absence, and overlisting (55% of all ineffective trials were for these reasons combined).Across 2022, the proportion of ineffective trials in the Crown Court for all offences increased significantly as a result of the impact of the Criminal Bar Assocation (CBA) action.‘Lack of defence advocate availability’ was the largest reason for all ineffective trials throughout 2022 (35%) and accounted for 22% (484 trials) in Q4 2022 once CBA action had ended, down from 67% (2,498 trials) in the previous quarter recorded during the barristers’ strikes. The CBA action ended in October 2022. Ineffective trials for each offence type (xlsx, 24.5KB)

Prison Accommodation

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what his timeline is for delivering the 20,000 additional modern prison places announced by his Department on 18 February 2022.

Damian Hinds: So far c.5,400 places have been delivered. This includes two new c.1,700 place prisons, HMP Five Wells, which opened last year, and HMP Fosse Way, which accepted its first prisoners at the end of May. At least 6,400 prison places are anticipated to be delivered by the end of May 2024, rising to over 8,000 by the end of May 2025, including places already delivered to date. In addition to these places, we have extended the lease at HMP Dartmoor, maintaining 680 places from December 2023.Our prison builds are complex capital projects, which are being delivered within challenging market conditions. Securing planning permission is a significant factor in timelines; we have submitted planning appeals following refusal of three applications for sites in Lancashire, Leicestershire, and Buckinghamshire and await decisions. Given the planning appeals are ongoing and subject to a recovered decision by DLUHC, it would not be appropriate to comment further. If planning is successful, these prisons would open as soon as possible to meet the pressing demand on prison places.We will push for earlier delivery of places wherever possible, and we are continuing to press ahead with further options to delivery capacity across the estate.

Rape: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Recommendation 6 of the Joint Inspectorate’s Phase Two report into the police and Crown Prosecution Service response to rape, published in February 2022, what steps he has taken to gather quantitative and qualitative data on the use of special measures in rape cases; and if he will publish data on the (a) number and (b) proportion of rape cases prosecuted in England and Wales where special measures have been used from 1 September 2022 to 30 June 2023.

Edward Argar: We recently published a process evaluation of the implementation of the pre-recorded cross-examination special measure (also known as section 28) for complainants of sexual and modern slavery offences on gov.uk. This was a qualitative evaluation which explored witness and practitioner views and experiences of section 28 to understand whether the provision was working as intended.Ministry of Justice analysts are currently scoping an impact analysis of section 28 which will give us further qualitative data on if the measure influences the outcomes and delivery in these cases or impacts on the functioning of the courts overall.The Ministry of Justice currently holds limited quantitative data on the use of special measures in rape cases, however we expect this to improve following the rollout of the Common Platform, a digital case management system which will be able to record special measure applications. As such we are currently unable to publish data on the number or proportion of rape cases that used special measures. However, on the criminal justice delivery dashboard we have published data which shows 433 witnesses in adult rape cases gave evidence using section 28 between January 2021 and December 2022.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Buildings: Fire Prevention

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what guidance his Department issues on liability for fire safety renovation costs on buildings over 18 meters.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has guidance on fire remediation works funding for registered charities in developments over 18 meters.

Lee Rowley: The Department has a range of guidance on the subject of fire remediation; guidance on the obligations on building owners under the Building Safety Act 2022 can be found here. Where developers or building owners are not currently funding cladding remediation, the Government has accepted funding applications for the remediation of ACM and non-ACM cladding on high-rise residential buildings (buildings over 18 metres) from responsible entities. Should a registered charity also qualify as a responsible entity, their application would be treated in the same way as other responsible entities.Guidance on how to apply to the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.Guidance on how to apply to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund for the remediation of ACM cladding can be found here.Guidance on how to apply for the remediation of non-ACM cladding via the Building Safety Fund can be found here.

Exercise and Sports: Planning

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with local authorities on incorporating activity and sports in town planning decisions.

Rachel Maclean: Government recognises that having space for sport and recreation is essential for our physical and mental health. The Government's National Planning Policy Framework sets an expectation that when local authorities are making planning decisions, they should enable the retention and development of sports venues, ensure new development can be integrated effectively with sports clubs, and aim to achieve places that are safe, inclusive and accessible which enable healthy lifestyles, including through the provision of sports facilities.

Leasehold: Reform

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will hold a consultation with leaseholders and industry before bringing forward legislative proposals for reforms to the leasehold system.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report by the Law Commission entitled Leasehold home ownership: buying your freehold or extending your lease published in July 2020.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with industry stakeholders on the Government's proposed reforms to the leasehold system.

Rachel Maclean: In 2017, the Government asked the Law Commission to review the legislation on leasehold enfranchisement. Following extensive consultation, the Commission reported back to Government in July 2020.On 7 Jan 2021, Government announced measures that will make it easier for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease, with significant discounts for those trapped with onerous ground rents.On 11 January 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a number of recommendations made by the Law Commission aimed at broadening the rights of leaseholders, and reinvigorating commonhold. The consultation closed on 22 February 2022 and we received over 2000 responses. We are currently analysing the feedback and we will provide a response in due course.As part of our programme of reform for the leasehold system, my ministerial colleagues and I have met with a range of parliamentarians from both Houses as well as representatives of both leaseholders and freeholders, and we will continue to do so.We are due to bring forward further leasehold reforms later in this Parliament.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent progress his Department has made on ending no fault evictions in the private rented sector.

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) protect renters from eviction and (b) support people who are homeless in Leicester East constituency.

Rachel Maclean: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 191614 on 6 July 2023.We remain committed to ending rough sleeping and tackling homelessness. We have given councils over £2 billion over three years to help them tackle homelessness and rough sleeping, targeted to areas where it is needed most. In Leicester, this includes £2,383,257 funding through the Homelessness Prevention Grant for 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Housing: Leicester East

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to take steps to help support the building of homes in Leicester to help tackle overcrowding in Leicester East constituency.

Rachel Maclean: The provision of affordable housing is part of the Government's plan to build more homes and provide aspiring homeowners with a step onto the housing ladder. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands of affordable homes for both rent and to buy right across the country. We would encourage Local Authorities in Leicester to work with social housing providers to bid into the Affordable Homes Programme.The Levelling Up White Paper committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes and a large number of the new homes delivered through our Affordable Homes Programme will be for social rent.Since 2010, we have delivered over 659,500 new affordable homes, including over 468,700 affordable homes for rent, of which over 166,300 homes for social rent. Of these over 2,700 have been delivered in Leicester.

Trees: Property Development

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of amending planning obligations to require developers to contribute to a fund for maintaining trees on new developments.

Rachel Maclean: The National Planning Policy Framework was amended in July 2021 to set an expectation that all new streets should be tree-lined, and that local planning policies and decisions should ensure appropriate measures are in place to secure the long-term maintenance of newly planted trees. It also encourages developers and local planning, highways and tree officers to work together to ensure that the right trees are planted in the right places and that existing trees are retained wherever possible.

Leasehold: Insurance

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of providers offering leasehold building insurance to local authorities in London.

Rachel Maclean: The department has begun to engage with local authorities (LAs) in London and beyond, and the Local Government Association (LGA) to assess the challenges they may be facing when accessing the buildings insurance market.

Housing: St Helens

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many new homes were built in St Helens Borough in each year since 2000 by electoral ward.

Rachel Maclean: The information requested is not held centrally.

Temporary Accommodation

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the length of time people spend in temporary accommodation.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of imposing a limit on the length of time someone can be placed in temporary accommodation before being offered permanent accommodation.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allowing homeless people to apply to multiple local authorities for homelessness assistance when their (a) work and (b) personal connections are spread over more than one authority.

Felicity Buchan: This Government is committed to reducing the need for temporary accommodation by preventing homelessness before it occurs. Over 600,000 households have been prevented from becoming homeless or supported into settled accommodation since 2018 through the Homelessness Reduction ActBetween 2022 and 2025 we are investing in excess of £1 billion into the Homelessness Prevention Grant. This funds local authorities to work with landlords to prevent evictions and offer financial support for people to find a new home and move out of temporary accommodation.   The Code of Guidance is clear that when local authorities are establishing an applicant's local connection, they should consider employment and family circumstances. Legislation stipulates that where temporary accommodation is provided, it must be suitable, taking account of the needs of the household.

Local Government Finance: Pilot Schemes

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which local authorities have been invited to to take part in the simplification pathfinder pilot.

Dehenna Davison: The government has published a plan for simplifying the funding landscape for local authorities. This publication follows the commitment within the landmark Levelling Up White Paper, to deliver a more transparent, simple, and accountable approach to fundingThe funding simplification pathfinder pilot will test the streamlined delivery of some DLUHC capital funding. All ten local authorities currently in receipt of funding from all three of the following DLUHC-administered capital programmes are eligible to participate in the pilot:Future High Streets FundTown Deal fundingRegeneration funding from round one of the Levelling Up FundWe will shortly be publishing further information about the Simplification Pathfinder Pilot, including the authorities that have confirmed their participation in the pilot.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Disclosure of Information

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.

Dehenna Davison: The Department has policies and procedures in place to deal with allegations of misconduct and investigations into alleged misconduct. Our investigations guidance follows Civil Service HR’s product.

Help to Buy Scheme

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many calls were made to Homes England in (a) April, (b) May and (c) June 2023 on the Help to Buy Scheme.

Rachel Maclean: Homes England do not have published figures for how many calls were made to Homes England in (a) April, (b) May and (c) June 2023 on the Help to Buy Scheme.

Department for Business and Trade

Companies: Registration

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what is the largest number of companies registered to a single individual acting in the role as an officer of those companies.

Kevin Hollinrake: The largest number of appointments as an officer of a limited company held by a single individual is 1,458. Company legislation imposes no cap on the number of company officer appointments an individual can hold. However, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill 2022 will introduce identity verification for company officers, allowing the Registrar of Companies more easily to monitor the risk that might be represented by abnormally high concentrations of officer appointments.

Foreign Investment in UK and Overseas Trade

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question 193054 on Foreign Investment in UK and Overseas Trade, if she will provide a breakdown of the 8,000 jobs created by (a) region and (b) nation.

Nigel Huddleston: From 2022 to 2023, the number of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Projects and jobs created by those projects broken down by nation are as follows:Scotland – 130 FDI projects, 3,429 jobs created.Wales – 47 FDI projects, 3,062 jobs created.Northern Ireland – 33 FDI projects, 1,416 jobs created.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant of the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 187340 on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, what secondary legislation will be required to implement the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023; and when he plans to bring forward each item of secondary legislation.

Kevin Hollinrake: We anticipate approximately seven statutory instruments will be necessary to implement the leave and pay entitlements. These will be laid in due course, subject to parliamentary time.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant of the Answer of 13 June 2023 to Question 187340 on the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, if he will publish minutes of meetings where the implementation of the Neonatal care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 has been discussed since May 2023.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government is committed to introducing Neonatal Care Leave and Pay as soon as possible. Discussions have taken place across Government on work necessary to deliver this entitlement and the implementation timeline. The Government does not hold any formal minutes of meetings to discuss the implementation of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023, and does not intend to publish notes of internal discussions.

Musicians: EU Countries

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department is taking steps to help support UK-based touring musicians with the requirement to obtain an ATA Carnet for taking their instruments and equipment to the EU.

Nigel Huddleston: The Export Support Service is the first point of contact for all UK businesses to get answers to questions about exporting their products or services, including on areas most relevant to touring musicians such as ATA carnets. The government has also published new information on the GOV.UK website specifically for touring musicians and other creative sectors and worked closely with music industry bodies to help develop their own tailored guidance.

Department for Business and Trade: Ipsos

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's transparency data publication entitled DBT: spending over £25,000 for March 2023, for what purpose her Department spent at IPSOS (Market Research) Ltd (a) £45,000 on 24 March 2023, (b) £11,500 on 27 March 2023, (c) £16,850 on 27 March 2023, (d) £15,550 on 28 March 2023 and (e) £33,350 on 30 March 2023.

Nigel Huddleston: Payment b) of £11,500 and payment c) of £16,850 both relate to monitoring and evaluation of the Department for Business & Trade's (DBT) work in building resilience into the UK’s supply chains. Payment a) of £45,000 and payment d) of £15,550 both relate to research to enhance DBT's services to exporters. Payment e) of £33,350 relates to research to understand how businesses use unregistered design rights to protect their intellectual.

Home Office

Fraud

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to  page 21 of her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, when she plans to launch the first phase of the independent review on the disclosure regime.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a senior judge to lead that review.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Fraud Strategy: stopping scams and protecting the public, published in May 2023, whether she plans to publish the terms of reference on the proposed review of the disclosure regime.

Tom Tugendhat: As announced in the Fraud Strategy, the Home Office, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, will shortly launch an independent review into the challenges of investigating and prosecuting fraud.The review will consider the following:Phase 1Modernising the disclosure regime for cases with large volumes of digital evidence.Phase 2Whether fraud offences and the Fraud Act 2006 meet the challenges of modern fraud, including whether penalties still fit the crime.Creating civil orders and penalties to prevent fraudsters reoffending.Making it easier for individuals to inform on associates in criminal fraud networksThe terms of reference will be published once a review chair is in post and the review is launched. The Home Office is working with the Ministry of Justice to identify suitable candidates to lead the review.

Entry Clearances: Afghanistan

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her Department's policy for UK entry clearance visas issued in Pakistan to be sent to the named individuals in Afghanistan where an individual has had to return to Afghanistan due to not having an immigration status in Pakistan.

Robert Jenrick: We normally require people who are granted permission to come to the UK to collect their passport and entry clearance vignette from the Visa Application Centre (VAC) they attended to enrol their biometric information. We will not send out secure documents, such as passports containing an entry clearance vignette, where there is a significant risk that the documents would not reach the intended recipients, as this could pose a security risk to the UK or expose the individual to danger. Where individuals are unable to attend a VAC to collect their documents, they must contact UK Visa and Immigration to agree alternative arrangements to collect their passports.

Visas: Sudan

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether visas granted by her Department to individuals in Sudan can be collected by the applicants in Ethiopia.

Robert Jenrick: Where a decision has been made to grant a visa, processes are in place to transport their visa to another VAC location of their choice for collection.Customers should contact Sudanpassportenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk in order to discuss individual arrangements for the collection of their visa if they are outside of Sudan.

Rape

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Recommendation 1 of the Joint Inspectorate Phase One report into the police and Crown Prosecution Service response to rape, published in July 2021, what steps she has taken to ensure the accurate and consistent recording of the protected characteristics of rape victims, and if she will publish the relevant data in respect of the victims of rape offences recorded by the police in England and Wales in 2022.

Miss Sarah Dines: In April 2022 the Home Office issued guidance to police forces in England and Wales to seek to bring greater consistency to the recording of specific protected characteristics of victims of crime. In doing so, we have followed the approach used in the 2021 Census for England and Wales which will enable meaningful comparisons with the general population and inform the policy and operational response to crime.The Attorney General’s Office publish breakdowns of the age and gender of complainants in prosecutions of Violence against Women and Girls offences annually, available here:https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/cps-data-summary-quarter-4-2022-2023

Immigration Controls

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish an Impact Assessment for the changes outlined in the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules published by her Department on 17 July 2023.

Robert Jenrick: There is likely to be no, or no significant, direct impact on business, charities, or voluntary bodies as a result of the changes to the Student route. Any impacts, including significant impacts on universities and the public sector, are being assessed for the purposes of the Impact Assessment which has been prepared to assess the impact of these Rules changes.The Impact Assessment is still to be finalised and is subject to final Departmental clearances and will be published in due course.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, when the third pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme will be fully opened.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Home Affairs, whether journalists facing persecution in (a) Afghanistan and (b) neighbouring countries will be eligible for immigration status under the third pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

Robert Jenrick: The UK has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help relocate at-risk people in Afghanistan. To date, nearly 24,600 people have been brought to safety, this includes at-risk journalists and the first individuals to be relocated under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).Under the first stage of Pathway 3, 1,500 places were made available to at risk people from three groups, who directly supported the UK and international community’s efforts in Afghanistan: British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni. Our immediate focus is on ensuring their resettlement.In the second stage of Pathway 3, our commitment to work with international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk still stands. We are not able to open for referrals at this present time, but further information will be published in due course.We recognise there are many vulnerable individuals who remain in Afghanistan and the region. Unfortunately, the capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions about who will be prioritised have to be made.

Lone Parents: Finance

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the impact of the Government's policy on no recourse to public funds on single mothers.

Robert Jenrick: The Government published an overarching Equality Impact Assessment on the Compliant Environment measures, of which NRPF is part, earlier this year: Compliant environment: overarching equality impact assessment (accessible) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Police: Demonstrations

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to police forces on protests that disrupt (a) sporting and (b) music events.

Chris Philp: It is unacceptable that athletes who put tremendous effort into their training, as well as spectators who spend their hard-earned money to attend, are having their experiences spoiled by a selfish minority. The Government is committed to tackling the guerrilla tactics used to disrupt major British events. That is why we recently introduced new legislation through the Public Order Act 2023, criminalising actions such as ‘locking on’. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 also made it easier to tackle public nuisance caused by protesters.The College of Policing have primary responsibility for publishing police guidance and are operationally independent. They have recently worked with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to publish the National Protest Operational Advice document (National protest operational advice (college.police.uk)), which provides operational guidance on the handling of protests, including those that disrupt major events, and the application of the Public Order Act 2023.In addition, the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice on Public Order Public Safety (Public order public safety | College of Policing(opens in a new tab)) has recently been updated and provides guidance on the policing of major events. The document signposts to both the Public Order Act 2023 and the National Protest Operational Advice document.The Home Secretary recently chaired a roundtable with cabinet colleagues, police and sports representatives. The Home Office will continue to work with event organisers and police to ensure plans are in place to protect sporting events.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Vacancies

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of adding (a) HGV and (b) PSV drivers to the shortage occupation list for visas.

Robert Jenrick: The Government has no plans to increase the number of visas available for (a) HGV and (b) public service vehicle drivers, as these occupations are not eligible under the Points Based System. The Government’s position is that employers should invest in recruitment from the resident workforce, which includes UK workers and migrants with general work rights, for jobs with relatively short training requirements.The independent Migratory Advisory Committee (MAC) is currently reviewing the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which involves extensive consultation with industry. The MAC will report its recommendations in the Autumn, after which the Government will consider its position. As per the Government’s commissioning letter to the MAC last year, inclusion on the SOL for jobs which do not meet the skills threshold should only be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as when we added care workers last year.

Asylum: Hotels

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review her Department’s use of hotel accommodation to help improve the suitability of accommodation offered to asylum seekers.

Robert Jenrick: The United Kingdom has a statutory obligation to provide destitute asylum seekers with accommodation and other support whilst their application for asylum is being considered as set out in the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.The enduring solution is to stop the illegal, dangerous, and unnecessary small boat crossings that are overwhelming our asylum system. The Home Office is working tirelessly, alongside other government departments, to reduce the Government’s dependency on hotels for contingency accommodation through a package of long-term and short-term measures.The Asylum Accommodation service providers identify suitable accommodation and ensure that it conforms to the accommodation standards and provision set out in Schedule 2 of the Asylum Accommodation and Support Contracts (AASC). The Statement of Requirements, available via the link below, sets out the full details of our contractual obligations: http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1112/AASC_-_Schedule_2_-_Statement_of_Requirements.pdf(opens in a new tab).

Cabinet Office

Special Advisers: Redundancy Pay

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to page 4 of the Annual Report on Special Advisers 2020, published on 15 December 2020, how much of the £2.7 million in severance payments paid to special advisers between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 was repaid by individuals who were reappointed after the election.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Annual Report on Special Advisers 2018, published on 19 December 2018, what was the cost of severance payments made to special advisers in the 2018-19 financial year.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled list of special advisers in post as at 21 December 2016, published 21 December 2016, what amount of the (a) pay bill and (b) severance payments was spent in the 2015-16 financial year.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, November 2014, published on 18 December 2014, how much of the £8.4 million pay bill for special advisers was made up of severance payments in the 2013-14 financial year.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, October 2013, published on 25 October 2013, how much of the total pay bill for special advisers in the 2012-13 period was made up of severance payments.

Jeremy Quin: The Cabinet Office publishes an annual report on special advisers, and far more detail is transparently provided than ever issued under the last Labour Government, and far more than is published by the Labour-led Welsh Government. As set out in the July 2023 annual report, laid in the House today, special advisers represent just 0.02 per cent of the Civil Service workforce. Special advisers are classed as temporary civil servants. They receive a severance payment if their appointment automatically ends when their appointing Minister ceases to hold ministerial oﬃce. This reflects the lack of any formal notice period. The substantive contractual provisions in the Model Contract are the same as under previous Administrations of all political colours, including the last Labour Government. They also reflect the statutory provisions set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, as legislated for under the last Labour Government. For example, £1 million in then-prices was paid in severance payments in 2007-08 (as per out in 17 November 2008, Official Report, Col. 244W) and £1.8 million in April-May 2010 (as set out in 28 October 2010, Official Report, Col. 18WS). With regards to the specific questions asked:The £7.2 million figure in the 2012-13 annual report includes all salary costs, including severance costs, however the amount relating specifically to severance was not reported.No severance was paid in 2013-14.The 2015-16 annual report covered the period April 2015 through 13 July 2016, to cover the paybill costs until the end of the David Cameron Administration. The severance figures reported covered this entire period rather than the financial year.In 2018-19, £208,000 of severance was paid, as per the annual report.In 2019-20, the £2.7million severance figure stated in the annual report is net of repayments. Given the Rt Hon Member has such an interest in special adviser severance payments, the Labour Party should state how much Short Money, Cranborne Money and Policy Development Grant has been spent on severance payments following multiple changes to Labour Party leaders and the Shadow Cabinet in this time period.

Veterans: Advisory Services

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding his Department is providing to the Veterans' Gateway in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.

Johnny Mercer: The Veterans’ Gateway enables veterans and their dependents to access state and charity support services in areas including physical and mental health, financial support, assistance with independent living, housing, and employment. In the financial year 2023-24, the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA) has provided £250,000 of funding to support the service, which has already supported over a million veterans. On 13 July 2023, it was announced that the Government had launched a refresh of the Veterans’ Gateway, with the service to be run by the OVA, at the heart of government, next year. Funding for the financial year 2024-25 is yet to be confirmed.

Veterans: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the £20 million for veterans’ housing announced in the Spring Budget 2023, what funding has been allocated for veterans' housing in Northern Ireland.

Johnny Mercer: The £20 million Veteran Housing Capital Grant Programme is designed to contribute to the Government's commitment of ending veteran homelessness across the UK, by ensuring veterans have access to good quality, affordable accommodation that meets their needs. Applications for funding will be open to housing organisations supporting veterans from across the four nations, including Northern Ireland, and we expect the initial £2 million grant to be open for applications later this year.

Information Rights User Group

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of (a) organisations and (b) individuals invited to participate in the Information Rights User Group.

Alex Burghart: This Government is committed to transparency and we want to strengthen how the Freedom of Information Act works across the entire public sector. The Information Rights User Group is being established following a commitment made in the Open Government Partnership Network Action Plan 5. Further details of this commitment can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-national-action-plan-for-open-government-2021-2023/uk-national-action-plan-for-open-government-2021-2023#commitment-8-freedom-of-information The final membership of the Group is yet to be finalised. Groups representing journalists, local authorities, campaign groups, think tanks, civil society, academics and the Information Commissioner’s Office were present at its inaugural meeting held on 4 July 2023.

Department for Transport

Leisure: Active Travel

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on improving active travel routes to encourage use for leisure activities.

Jesse Norman: Officials from the Department and Active Travel England work closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Sport England on these and other matters. I also recently met with Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of Sport England, to discuss future opportunities for joint working. The Government’s latest round of active travel funding, managed by Active Travel England, has supported £200 million worth of active travel routes in both urban and rural areas. The funding allocations were announced on 19 May and are available online, at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-people-to-benefit-from-200-million-to-improve-walking-and-cycling-routes .https://www.gov.uk/government/news/millions-of-people-to-benefit-from-200-million-to-improve-walking-and-cycling-routes

Electric Scooters: Pedestrian Areas

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of the use of e-scooters on pedestrians.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of privately-owned e-scooters.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of use of of e-scooters.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to encourage a shift from cars to (a) e-scooters and (b) other forms of active travel.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of banning silent e-scooters.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many collisions there have been between people riding e-scooters and (a) pedestrians and (b) other road users in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: Only e-scooters in Government-approved rental trials can be used legally.Private e-scooters remain illegal to use on all public roads, cycle lanes and pavements, and rental e-scooters can only be used in national rental e-scooter trial areas. E-scooter trials are currently live in 23 areas across England and will run until 31 May 2024. Safety for road users and pedestrians ​will always be a priority for the Department. In the guidance for the trials provided by the Department, it is advised that local authorities should ensure e-scooters do not become obstructive to pedestrians. The Department also recognises e-scooters may pose a particular challenge to those with disabilities. Operators and local authorities participating in the trials have been working with organisations representing disabled groups, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Some of the outcomes have been designing parking racks, improved rider education and training, as well as a mandatory requirement for all e-scooters in the trial to be fitted with a horn or bell to warn other road users of their approach. All e-scooters in the rental trials must have a horn or bell to warn other road users of their approach. Operators are also exploring installing sound or replicating artificial engine noise on their trial e-scooters to assist with detection. Statistics on personal injury collisions involving e-scooters in Great Britain reported by police via the STATS19 system are available from 2020, with the latest provisional statistics for 2022. The number of reported injury collisions involving at least one e-scooter, involving a pedestrian casualty, or more than one vehicle, are shown in the table below. Please note that a collision could involve both pedestrian casualties and multiple vehicles, in which case it could be counted more than once in the table. Statistics on collisions involving uninjured pedestrians are not collected. YearTotal e-scooter collisionsInvolving at least one pedestrian casualtyInvolving another vehicle2020460573772021135222710282022 (provisional)13692261027 The Department has published an evaluation of the e-scooter trials covering the period from July 2020 to December 2021. This provided an assessment of the impact of our policies on trends in usage, including trip numbers. The evaluation findings are available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-evaluation-of-e-scooter-trials-report. As part of the trials evaluation, the Department has gathered information about modal shift.  While the evaluation found that rental e-scooter journeys most commonly replaced walking journeys (42%), followed by private motor vehicles or taxis (21%), the proportion of walking journeys being replaced reduced over time, while the proportion of private motor vehicle or taxi journeys being replaced increased over time. Active travel is at the heart of the Government’s agenda, and it is investing more in it than any previous Government. The Department wants cycling and walking to be the natural first choice for shorter journeys, helping to improve air quality and health while reducing congestion on our roads. The Department has set an ambitious vision that by 2030, half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked. The Department estimates that 2% (1,091,823 people) of adults, equivalent to one million people aged 16+, owned an e-scooter in England as of June 20221 . This figure is from the Transport and Technology Tracker (June 2022; base = 3162). A 95 % confidence interval gives a range of 847,660 - 1,335,986 people age 16+ who own an e-scooter in England. The Department is currently considering options for e-scooter regulations that would be enabled by new primary legislation for micromobility vehicles, which the Government intends to introduce when parliamentary time allows. No decisions have been made, and we will consult on any new regulations before they come into force so that all interested parties have a chance to shape the new regime.

Great Western Main Line: Electrification

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his expected timescale is for electrification of the Great Western Main Line between Chippenham and Bristol Temple Meads as part of the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline.

Huw Merriman: In Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain, the Government committed to deliver a net zero rail network by 2050. The Great British Railways Transition Team will bring forward costed decarbonisation options for Government to carefully consider in terms of overall deliverability and affordability. We have invested over £5bn in the Great Western route, including £2.8bn on electrification, to deliver better services and new trains with thousands more seats.

Railways: North West

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in Lancaster on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in the North West.

Huw Merriman: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: North West

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in Liverpool Riverside constituency on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in the (a) Liverpool City Region and (b) North West.

Huw Merriman: When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes, and train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Staff

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of proposed rail ticket office closures on (a) the number and proportion of booking office staff who will retain their role and (b) the number and proportion of stations that will have (i) no change, (ii) a reduction and (iii) an increase in staffing levels; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Merriman: This is an industry-led process. The outcomes of the consultations will not be known until the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process has been concluded. Train operating companies will discuss employment matters with trade unions as part of their own collective bargaining processes.

Motorways: Accidents

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many deaths there have been (a) on (i) conventional and (ii) smart motorway hard shoulders and (b) on smart motorway rest areas in the last five years.

Mr Richard Holden: In May 2022, National Highways (NH) published its ‘Smart motorways stocktake Second year progress report 2022’, with the latest available five-year (2016-2020) safety data per road type. a) The data in the ‘Smart motorways stocktake Second year progress report’ shows that for the period 2016-2020 there were 28 fatal casualties (out of a total of 403 fatal casualties on motorways) resulting from a motorway collision which involved a vehicle recorded as entering, leaving or on a hard shoulder, which is 1 out of every 14 fatal casualties. Of these fatalities, 26 occurred on conventional motorways, 2 on controlled motorways and none on a Dynamic Hard Shoulder (DHS) motorway. (There were 2 additional fatal casualties on DHS motorways which occurred when the hard shoulder was operating as a live lane the collisions are categorised as live lane collisions and included in the DHS live lane data). b) Between 2016 and 2020, there were no fatalities in emergency areas.

Railways: Standards

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of plans modernise customer service across the rail network announced by the Rail Delivery Group on 5 July 2023 on future train use by (a) existing passengers and (b) potential customers.

Huw Merriman: These reforms will bring our stations in tune with what customers expect from other, modern and responsive services, including supermarkets and banks, where customer assistants help with information, support and making digital transactions on the shop floor. Together with industry we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience and moving staff out from behind the glass of ticket offices and into more visible and accessible roles around stations is a central part of this. This is an industry-led process. The outcomes of the consultations will not be known until the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement process has been concluded.

Railways: North West

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in Weaver Vale on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in the North West.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Tickets

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of relocating ticketing office staff on (a) income from ticket sales and (b) levels of fare evasion. .

Huw Merriman: Passengers have a number of alternative ways to purchase tickets. The Rail Delivery Group estimated that 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at Ticket Vending Machines or online. Industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes. When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers. This includes ensuring that passengers can easily buy the right ticket for the journey they want to make, with consideration of the product range available at the station and what support is available to help with purchase.

Railways: Greater London

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has been of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in Poplar and Limehouse constituency on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in London region.

Mr Richard Holden: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Northern Trains: Tickets

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact on rail users of ticket office closures on Northern Rail lines.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential health and safety impact of ticket office closures on Northern Rail lines.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators, such as Northern, are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Tickets

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with the Rail Delivery Group on the expected timescale to upgrade ticket vending machines.

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of railway ticketing options are available at ticket vending machines.

Huw Merriman: We recognise there are a wide range of fares and tickets offered to passengers, and that not all products are offered consistently online or at ticket vending machines. Industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes. When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers. This includes ensuring that passengers can easily buy the right ticket for the journey they want to make, with consideration of the product range available at the station and what support is available to help with purchase. Passengers will not be expected to travel out of their way to buy a ticket and will be able to buy en-route or at their destination.

Railways: North West

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing train station ticket offices in the North West on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in that region.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of train station ticket office closures on passengers in Ipswich constituency.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Hornsey and Wood Green

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to support vulnerable and disabled passengers affected by the closure of railway ticket offices in Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.Together with the rail industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the potential closure of train station ticket offices in Wigan on the (a) safety and (b) accessibility of passenger rail travel in Greater Manchester.

Huw Merriman: Under the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement, when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures) operators are required, amongst other things, to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers. We would also expect operators to consider equality related needs of passengers and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups. Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles. No currently staffed station will be unstaffed as a result of industry changes. Train operators will ensure staff are well located to meet passenger needs in future.

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the Senior Responsible Owners (SROs) are for the (i) East Coast Mainline Programme and (ii) Electrification of the Midland Mainline Programme; when those SROs started in post; on how many occasions the SROs have had to escalate project issues to his Department's board; on which dates those SROs last met Ministers; and when those SROs are next due to meet Ministers.

Huw Merriman: The Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for the East Coast Main Line is Nick Bisson who was appointed as SRO on 31 March 2022. The SRO for the Electrification of the Midland Mainline programme is Cavendish Elithorn who was appointed on 01 June 2019. Appointment letters can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dft-major-projects-appointment-letters-for-senior-responsible-owners. In line with their responsibilities as SROs regular updates on both schemes are provided to departmental Boards and Ministers with meetings as necessary.

Avanti West Coast

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many daily services Avanti West Coast runs under its current timetable.

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on average, how many daily services does he expect Avanti West Coast to run in (a) August and (b) September.

Huw Merriman: Avanti West Coast run a seven train per hour timetable which equates to 264 weekday services, 244 on Saturdays, and 202 on Sundays. However, from 24 July to 8 September, Avanti has removed 20 trains a day from its weekday timetable, to enable it to run a more reliable service for its customers, minimising unplanned, short-term cancellations. This is a temporary measure and from 9 September it will return to current levels. The base position is subject to change as Avanti agrees plans to mitigate the impact of strikes and Network Rail engineering works, particularly on weekends.

Avanti West Coast

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Avanti West Coast on possible service reductions in (a) August and (b) September; and if he will make a statement.

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Avanti West Coast on possible alterations to planned services in (a) August and (b) September 2023.

Huw Merriman: Avanti West Coast weekday timetables for August and September 2023 are publicly available on the Avanti website. Department officials routinely engage with Avanti and its Owning Group, including on all significant timetabling and performance decisions. We are holding them to account for matters within their control and will continue to use all contractual levers to drive the best outcomes for passengers. As previously advised to line-of-route MPs, to help maintain the progress it has made so far, Avanti has been taking steps to build in greater resilience in key periods. Given the continued disruption arising from a greatly increased annual leave burden, Avanti is temporarily suspending a limited number of targeted services between 24 July and 9 September 2023. These temporary reductions, spread across its routes and targeted at times of least impact, will help prevent short notice cancellations for passengers, giving them confidence that what they see in the timetable will run reliably. It’s important to note that, throughout this period, Avanti will continue running more services than last year.

East Coast Main Line: Railway Signals

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) projected end date, (b) projected financial costs, (c) initial planned whole-life costs, (d) the projected whole-life costs and (e) delivery confidence assessment are for the East Coast Digital Programme; and when each of those areas listed was last reviewed by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority.

Huw Merriman: The East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) received an AMBER rating from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) in September 2022 as part of its annual formal Gateway 0 Review. As standard for a Gateway 0, this included a check that provision for financial and other resources have been made for the programme. This was the last formal review of the programme by the IPA with the next review planned for September 2023. The AMBER delivery confidence rating matches the SRO’s assessment as per the programmes latest GMPP report for FY 2023/24 Q1. a) Projected end date – October 2030b) Projected financial costs – £1,877m (up to 2031 and includes RNEP funding and funding from the Control Period 7 Statement of Funds Available, which is subject to ORR advice)c) Initial planned whole life costs – £3,476.66m (over a 60-year period and includes renewals)d) The projected whole-life costs – £3,476.66 (m)

East Coast Main Line: Railway Signals

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected end date is of the East Coast Mainline Programme and when that date was last reviewed; what the forecast spend is for financial year 2022-23 and when that forecast was last reviewed; what the initial planned whole life costs were; what the projected whole life costs are and when that projection was last reviewed; and what the delivery confidence assessment is and when that was last reviewed.

Huw Merriman: The East Coast Main Line (ECML) Enhancements Programme has a projected end date of 01 December 2024, with forecast spend on the Programme for this financial year of £56m. Initial planned whole life costs were £1230m, whilst projected whole life costs are now £1098m.The Delivery Confidence Assessment for the Programme remains Amber as set out in the Infrastructure and Projects Authority 2023 Annual Report, as the majority of benefits will not be realised until a new ECML timetable is introduced which is anticipated in 2024, and some may remain outstanding beyond that (principally for Leeds). All of this detail is reviewed quarterly in line with requirements for the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio.

East West Rail Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected end date is of East West Rail and when that date was last reviewed; what the forecast spend is for the current financial year and when that forecast was last reviewed; what the  initial planned whole life costs were; what the projected whole life costs are and when that projection was last reviewed; and what the delivery confidence assessment is and when that was last reviewed.

Huw Merriman: East West Rail Connection Stage 1 (CS1) - connecting Oxford to Bletchley/Milton Keynes – is expected to enter into service in 2025. This date is regularly reviewed. The[CE1] Government has provided £1.3bn towards its delivery. For Connection Stages 2 (connecting through to Bedford) and 3 (connecting through to Cambridge) the next step is a statutory consultation, expected in the first half of 2024. EWR Co will need to apply for a Development Consent Order to secure permission to build the railway and subject to approvals for the project is aiming to introduce services across the whole route in the early 2030s. The estimated cost of the CS2/3 stages is £4bn to £6bn. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) published Delivery Confidence Assessments for East West Rail in its Annual Report on Major Projects 2021-22. These were amber for CS1 and red for CS2/3. These will be updated in the IPA Annual Report for 2022-23.

Railway Network

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to open new railway lines to areas which are not serviced by rail transport.

Huw Merriman: We want to ensure that all rail investment meets the needs of rail users and communities alike and we will continue to consider all requests for new schemes in line with our rail network enhancement pipeline (RNEP) policy. The RNEP is managed as a portfolio with the prioritisation of schemes and the allocation of funds within it managed and updated on an ongoing basis.

Railways: Tickets

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with (a) the Rail Delivery Group and (b) train operating companies on proposals to close train station ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: Together with the rail industry we want to modernise the passenger experience by moving staff out from ticket offices to more visible and accessible roles around the station. Department officials regularly engage with the rail industry including the Rail Delivery Group and train operating companies, to discuss a wide range of topics, including how best to operate stations and serve passenger needs in the most efficient and effective way.

High Speed Two: Public Appointments

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has held with HS2 Ltd on the appointment of a new CEO of HS2 Ltd.

Huw Merriman: The Secretary of State and I met with the HS2 Ltd Chair, Sir Jon Thompson, and Deputy Chair, Elaine Holt, to discuss the Board’s appointment of a new permanent CEO of HS2 Ltd on Wednesday 12 July. This is a critical role for the Government and I will continue engage closely with them to ensure we get the right person for the role.

Tractors and Trailers: Testing

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring agricultural (a) tractors and (b) trailers to undertake MOT testing.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department published a consultation response and amended the Construction and Use Regulations in 2017 to implement EU directive 2014/45 relating to fast tractors used for haulage. These amendments mandate that tractors used for haulage and capable of travelling over 40kmh are tested 4 years after first registration, and every 2 years after, with particular reference to brakes. This includes trailers where relevant. We will be reviewing the impact of these regulations as detailed in The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 presently.

Bus Services: Public Service Obligations

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to issue new guidance on socially and economically necessary bus services.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department plans to publish new guidance on socially and economically necessary services during this Parliament.

Railways: Tickets

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Rail Delivery Group on the potential impact of proposed rail ticket office closures on the availability of ticket types; and whether he is taking steps to ensure the availability of all ticket types at train stations.

Huw Merriman: We recognise there are a wide range of fares and tickets offered to passengers, and that not all products are offered consistently online or at ticket vending machines. However, an estimated 99% of all transactions made at ticket offices last year could be made at TVMs or online.The rail industry is looking to expand digital ticketing options and make them even easier for passengers to use through upgrades to ticket vending machines and digitisation of more tickets and processes. When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours, including closures, operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of all passengers. This includes ensuring that passengers can easily buy the right ticket for the journey they want to make, with consideration of the product range available at the station and what support is available to help with purchase. Passengers will not be expected to travel out of their way to buy a ticket and will be able to buy en-route or at their destination.

Business: Low Emission Zones

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of Ulez expansion on businesses and economic activity outside London.

Mr Richard Holden: Transport in London is devolved to an elected Mayor. TfL commissioned consultants to produce an impact assessment of the proposed expansion. This was published on 17 May 2022 entitled ‘London-wide ULEZ integrated Impact Assessment (ULEZ Scheme IIA). Therefore, it is for him to assess the economic impact of his proposed expansion of the ULEZ including on businesses and economic activity outside London.

Railways: Tickets

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of closing ticket offices on older rail workers' ability to purchase tickets at privilege rates.

Huw Merriman: We recognise that not all rail staff privilege rates are consistently offered online or at ticket vending machines at this time. Industry is considering how to address this. However, as part of the proposals put forward by industry, some of the country’s busiest ticket offices will initially remain open to help passengers gradually get used to the changes they will see at stations around the country.

Railways: North of England

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) projected end date is, (b) forecast spend in the financial year 2023-24 is, (c) initial planned whole life costs were and (d) delivery confidence assessment is of the TransPennine Route Upgrade; and when each of those figures were last reviewed.

Huw Merriman: The current forecast end date for the TransPennine Route Upgrade programme is between 2036 and 2041, but benefits will be released in phases from 2025. Forecast spend in 2023-24 is circa £650m and the total programme investment is estimated between £9.0bn and £11.5bn. Whole life costs are estimated at £12.1bn: up-front capital expenditure accounts for the significant proportion of this. All of these figures are from the 2021 business case; an update is currently in progress. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority rated the TRU programme’s delivery confidence as Amber in January and May 2021.

Tractors: Driving Tests

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has considered the potential merits of requiring mandatory preparatory training for the Agricultural Tractor Driving test.

Mr Richard Holden: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) encourages learners to only take their driving test when they can drive safely and are ready to pass their test first time. Everyone is different and therefore each person will require a different amount of time to learn to drive, or ride. The DVSA has no plans to regulate mandatory training for any test category.

High Speed 2 Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected end date is of HS2 phase 1 and when that date was last reviewed; what the forecast spend is for the current financial year and when that forecast was last reviewed; what the  initial planned whole life costs were; what the projected whole life costs are and when that projection was last reviewed; and what the delivery confidence assessment is and when that was last reviewed.

Huw Merriman: The Government set out schedule and cost updates for HS2 Phase 1 in its 6-monthly report on HS2 to Parliament in June. The first high-speed services are expected to run between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street between 2029 and 2033. The Target Cost for Phase 1 remains £40.3bn and the Funding Envelope remains £44.6bn (both in 2019 values). HS2 Ltd is currently reviewing its Estimate at Completion. HS2 Ltd plans to spend £7.6bn (current prices) in 2023/24 on Phase 1. The project’s Delivery Confidence Assessment in Q4 2022/23 was Red. This is reviewed quarterly in line with requirements for the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio.

Railways: WiFi

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of a reduction in the provision of on-train WiFi on passengers using that service for (a) leisure and (b) business.

Huw Merriman: Our railways are currently not financially sustainable, and the Department has asked rail operators to provide the commercial case for retaining passenger facing Wi-Fi. A decision will be taken on a case by case basis once the responses have been analysed by the Department. This assessment will also review the potential impact on passengers using train services for leisure, commuting and business.

Freight: Income

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2023 to Question 189475, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that there is no loss of earnings to the UK haulage industry due to EU rules on cabotage since the UK left the EU.

Mr Richard Holden: Cabotage access for UK road transport operators is included in Article 462 of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). Under the terms of that agreement, UK operators can undertake unlimited bilateral journeys to, from and through the EU.Up to two additional movements (international movements between EU States or cabotage) may be undertaken within the EU following a laden journey from the UK, within a 7-day period. These rights are designed to support the efficient operation of UK international road haulage industry between the UK and EU and within the EU.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aircraft: Helicopters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many airframes his Department plans to procure through the New Medium Helicopter programme.

James Cartlidge: There has been no change to the advertised requirement of up to 44 platforms in the New Medium Helicopter Contract Notice that was published in May 2022. Candidate suppliers have been evaluated to determine a short-list, and those who are short-listed will be invited to participate in the second half of the competition which will be launched later this year.

Warrior Vehicles

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated cost is of keeping the warrior armoured fighting vehicle in service for longer than originally planned.

James Cartlidge: The intent remains to begin withdrawing Warrior from service from 2025. The Army has currently been allocated £200 million to allow current capabilities, including Warrior, to remain in service until new concepts and capabilities are introduced into service throughout the decade.

Warrior Vehicles

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many warrior armoured fighting vehicles were in service on 14 July 2023, broken down by variant.

James Cartlidge: 708 Warrior Infantry Fighting Vehicles are in service with the British Army. This number reflects a reduction in platforms from the number quoted in the last annual published statistics following the disposal of 13 platforms which were beyond economical repair.For reasons of security, we do not break this number down any further.

LE TacCIS Programme: Expenditure

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent on the Morpheus next-generation tactical communications system as of 14 July 2023.

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what has been the cost to the public purse of the LE TacCIS programme as of 14 June 2023.

James Cartlidge: As of 14 July 2023, the total expenditure for the LETacCIS programme is c£1.7 billion, of which Project MORPHEUS represents c£690 million.

Warrior Vehicles

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the out of service date is for the warrior armoured fighting vehicle.

James Cartlidge: I refer my right hon. Friend to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the previous Minister for Defence Procurement (Alex Chalk) on 17 January 2023 to Question 120882 to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Kevan Jones).Warrior Vehicles (docx, 18.1KB)

Type 23 Frigates

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list each refit of the Type 23 frigate class over the last ten years by (a) name of ship, (b) contractor carrying out the refit, (c) estimated time to complete the retrofit and (d) actual time to complete the retrofit.

James Cartlidge: The requested information is provided in the table below. Details of the planned duration of each refit period before work commenced could be provided only at a disproportionate cost. The data required would have to be collated from a number of sources, some of which are no longer readily accessible. In addition, some of the data required remains commercially sensitive. It should be noted that the duration of any refit period is highly dependent on multiple factors including the planned scope of the work, shaped by the age and operating profile of the vessel; the extent of emergent work, which cannot be forecast before the refit commences; and by external factors such as Covid shutdowns.ShipContractorStartEndDuration (Months)HMS PORTLANDBabcockNov-11May-1319HMS IRON DUKEBAE SystemsFeb-12Nov-1322HMS SOMERSETBabcockApr-12Mar-1312HMS SUTHERLANDBabcockOct-13Jun-1521HMS ST ALBANSBAE SystemsApr-13Aug-1417HMS WESTMINSTERBAE SystemsOct-14Mar-1730HMS MONMOUTHBabcockJan-14Sep-1521HMS MONTROSEBabcockMar-14Jul-1517HMS ARGYLLBabcockMay-15Apr-1724HMS NORTHUMBERLANDBabcockMay-16Apr-1823HMS KENTBabcockOct-16Oct-1825HMS LANCASTERBabcockMay-17May-2036HMS RICHMONDBabcockSep-17Mar-2030HMS SOMERSETBabcockOct-18May-2243HMS PORTLANDBabcockApr-18May-2137HMS IRON DUKEBabcockMay-19Jun-2349

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July to Question 192193 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many service accommodation units do not have valid gas certificates.

James Cartlidge: As at 19 July 2023, 116 occpied Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties do not have a valid gas safety certificate. This equates to 0.26% of the 43,928 SFA properties with a mains gas supply.

HMS Vanguard: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was of the refit of HMS Vanguard.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 May 2023 to Question 186131 to the hon. Member for Angus (Mr Doogan).HMS Vanguard (docx, 17.9KB)

Ministry of Defence: Artificial Intelligence

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) algorithmic and (b) other automated decision making systems his Department uses; and for what purposes.

James Cartlidge: Defence Artificial Intelligence use cases span the full spectrum of Ministry of Defence outputs, from the back-office to the frontline:enhancing the speed and efficiency of business processes and support functions;increasing the quality of decision-making and tempo of operations;improving the security and resilience of inter-connected networks;enhancing the mass, persistence, reach and effectiveness of our military forces; andprotecting our people from harm by automating “dull, dirty and dangerous” tasks.

Type 23 Frigates: Decommissioning

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans for the last Type 23 frigate to leave operational service.

James Cartlidge: On current plans, the last Type 23 frigate will transition out of service in 2035. The Royal Navy continuously reviews its requirements to ensure all operational requirements continue to be met, both now and in the future.

Type 31 Frigates: Guided Weapons

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to incorporate the Mk41 vertical launch system on Type 31 vessels.

James Cartlidge: We intend to fit the Type 31 frigate with the Mark 41 vertical launch system. Working closely with the US Navy, we have commenced a formal assessment phase to explore the options, costs, and opportunities to deliver this. At this early stage, it would be inappropriate to provide any further information whilst this commercially sensitive work is ongoing.

Submarines: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what is the anticipated cost of repairing the submarine lift at Faslane Naval Base.

James Cartlidge: I am unable to confirm the status of the shiplift at His Majesty's Naval Base Clyde as to do so could, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability and effectiveness of our Armed Forces.

Ministry of Defence: Aviation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to sub-target two of the Greening Government Commitments reporting requirements for 2021 to 2025 last updated on 15 December 2022, whether his Department follows the encouragement in that guidance to (a) monitor and (b) report on the number of domestic flights for which her Department is responsible each year; and how many domestic flights were taken by Ministers in his Department in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022.

James Cartlidge: In support of the Greening Government Commitments (GGC), Defence's domestic business flights are recorded and associated annual carbon emissions reported in the Department's Annual Report and Accounts.For 2021, our records show there was a total of 48 domestic flights recorded as being used by Ministers e.g. Commercial flights, RAF planes and RAF helicopters. For 2022, our records show there were a total of 91 domestic flights.

National Cyber Force

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2023 to Question 122426, when he expects construction of the new headquarters for the National Cyber Force in Samlesbury to be completed; and what proportion of its planned full complement of staff were working at the new facility by 30 June 2023.

James Heappey: The National Cyber Force (NCF) will relocate its main centre of operations to Samlesbury, contributing to the Levelling Up agenda and bringing economic stimulus, job creation and other tangible benefits to the region. Approximately two thirds of the NCF will be based in Samlesbury by the 2030s, with the remaining third at other locations. Whilst I am not able to comment on detailed operational numbers and dates publicly, plans are well underway for the move.

Veterans: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on (a) the number of veterans with PTSD and (b) how many were diagnosed (i) before and (ii) after they left the Armed Forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence does not collect or hold information on all veterans and cannot say how many have a diagnosis of PTSD. The number of personnel medically discharged with PTSD listed as a principal or contributory cause can be found at; https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/medical-discharges-among-uk-service-personnel-statistics-index

Warships: Wrecks

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to monitor Royal Navy wrecks to prevent (a) potential environmental pollution and (b) the potential desecration of the last known resting places of Royal Navy personnel.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence is responsible for the environmental and safety concerns associated with the oil and ammunition remaining on an estimated 5,700 post-1870 legacy wrecks worldwide. Our Wreck Management Programme categorises each wreck and assesses what level of intervention may be required. This may include the removal of pollutants and/or anything posing a safety risk.As a matter of customary international law, all naval warships, state vessels and associated artefacts are afforded protection through the principle of Sovereign Immunity. The UK is of the view that, unless expressly relinquished or abandoned by the Flag State, the Sovereign Immunity of the wreck of any Crown vessel remains in place, regardless of where the wreck in question is located, and those who lost their lives in service of our country should be left in situ and undisturbed.Some warships are also afforded additional protection under the Protection of Military Remains Act. Vessels of historical significance, at risk of salvage and that are the last resting place of our service personnel are considered for inclusion. We strongly condemn any desecration of any maritime military grave. Where we have evidence of desecration of the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels, we do and will take appropriate action, including working with governments and partners to prevent inappropriate activity at such sites.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Departments planned timescale for the design and construction of the Fleet Solid Support Ships beginning with the awarding of the contract to the Team Resolute consortium in November 2022.

James Cartlidge: On current plans, construction of the Fleet Solid Support ships will begin in 2025 with the first ship expected to enter service in 2031, and all three ships in operational service by 2032, which will deliver the Full Operating Capability for the Fleet Solid Support programme.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 136537 on Harland and Wolff: Welding, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the ability of Harland and Wolff to meet its contractual obligations on the construction of the new Fleet Solid Support Ships.

James Cartlidge: Team Resolute is obliged by the Fleet Solid Support ship contract to deliver the social value and training plan. The Ministry of Defence has no direct contractual relationship with Harland & Wolff; the company is a sub-contractor to the prime, Navantia UK, within the Team Resolute consortium.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2023 to Question 192946 on Armed Forces: Housing, how many service family accommodation properties received payments from the fuel subsidy scheme in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The table below shows the number of Service Family Accommodation properties which received payments from the Fuel Subsidy scheme in the last five years; Financial YearNumber of properties2018-192462019-201402020-211842021-222262022-23316

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service family accommodation properties are eligible for his Department's fuel subsidy scheme.

James Cartlidge: 1,154 Service Family Accommodation properties are eligible for the Ministry of Defence Fuel Subsidy Scheme.

Ministry of Defence Police: Labour Turnover and Recruitment

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of Ministry of Defence Police officers.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Recruitment of Ministry of Defence Police officers targets locations facing the most acute recruitment challenges and uses a variety of outreach methods including social media, events and briefings. The terms and conditions of Ministry of Defence Police officers are subject to regular review including locational and other allowances. Feedback from exit interviews informs consideration of monetary and non-monetary steps to support retention.

Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Defence Police

Dave Doogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that reviews by (a) his Department and (b) the Ministry of Defence Police provide a comprehensive assessment of security needs and risks at each establishment.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Security at Defence sites is provided by a range of guarding and policing providers, including the Ministry of Defence Police. We are in the process of reviewing the way we provide policing at Defence sites, but the safety and security of our people and assets will remain at the heart of any recommendations.

HMS Somerset: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was of the refit of HMS Somerset between 2018 and 2022.

James Cartlidge: The approximate cost for refitting HMS SOMERSET between 2018 and 2022 was £60.7 million.

Navy: Greenwich Hospital

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Greenwich Hospital in meeting the aims set out in its Royal Charter.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Greenwich Hospital meets the needs of serving and former Royal Navy and Royal Marine (RN/RM) Service personnel and their families as set out in its founding Royal Charter through a variety of activities. These include the provision of sheltered housing and support to former RN/RM personnel; bursaries to receive education at the Royal Hospital School for children of RN/RM personnel; education bursaries to serving individuals, support for welfare projects and other recreational projects, and distribution of grants across the Navy charity sector.

Ministry of Defence: Staff

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the revenue savings from freezing defence civilian staff recruitment until March 2025.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has made an estimate of the reduction in the recruitment of civilian officials as a result of the freeze in the recruitment of defence civilian staff until March 2025.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence has recently commenced a temporary recruitment pause. Following this pause, over the next 18 months we will control the recruitment of civilian staff, with certain positions not being filled. We anticipate that the Defence civilian workforce will decrease through natural attrition by around 2,000 to 3,000 posts over this period. We are currently modelling how the reduction in civil servant headcount will contribute to the financial challenges the Department is facing.Our civilian workforce is crucial to protecting our nation and supporting our Armed Forces, and we are committed to having an agile workforce with the right skills, whilst maximising value for the taxpayer.The wellbeing of our Defence civil servants is extremely important to us, and we are pleased that Defence civil servants have high levels of job satisfaction, as seen in the recent Civil Service Wellbeing Over Time report.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Waste Management: Local Government

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her proposed reforms to waste collection services of the ability of local authorities to purchase (a) new vehicles, (b) containers and (c) other necessary equipment.

Rebecca Pow: To support the implementation of waste reforms, we will continue to make assessments of the ability of local authorities to purchase vehicles, containers and other equipment needed and support them in their local delivery.

Food: Departmental Coordination

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what frameworks there are for her Department to work with (a) the Department for Health and Social Care, (b) the Department of Work and Pensions, (c) other Departments on improving food diets.

Mark Spencer: Defra works with other departments to implement various aspects of the Government Food Strategy published June 2022, namely working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system. For example, through the Food Data Transparency Partnership, Defra, DHSC and the FSA are working together with industry and food system experts to improve the consistent measurement of scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions to meet our net zero targets and agree a set of health metrics to support more consistent voluntary reporting by large food and drink companies. DWP are responsible for wider poverty policy, of which household food insecurity is one element and DEFRA continues to collaborate with them and other departments to ensure we have the latest information on the cost of living crisis as it relates to household food security.

Water Companies

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of Ofwat's enforcement powers in relation to water companies.

Rebecca Pow: Last year, Ofwat levied penalties of £132 million against 11 water companies, which is being refunded to customers this year. Additionally, Ofwat has also opened a major enforcement investigation into 6 water companies regarding their compliance at sewage treatment works. The Government has backed steps to strengthen Ofwat’s enforcement powers. In March 2023, Ofwat were able to strengthen its ability to stop water companies making dividend payments if the company’s financial resilience is at risk thanks to powers provided in the Environment Act 2021. This also enables Ofwat to take enforcement action against companies that don’t link dividend payments to their performance for customers or the environment, or those failing to be transparent about their dividend pay-outs. Furthermore, in May this year government trebled Ofwat’s enforcement capacity with an additional £11.3m increase in funding.

Agriculture: Training

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing continued professional development training for each farming sector.

Mark Spencer: The Government recognises the value of continued professional development (CPD) and we are supporting the establishment of a new professional body for the farming industry; The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH). TIAH will strengthen support for skills and careers across the agriculture and horticulture sectors including supporting its membership to undertake CPD.

Montgomery Canal

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to restore and protect the Montgomery canal.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of grant funding on the future of Shropshire’s canal network.

Rebecca Pow: The Government’s specific grant funding for the Canal and River Trust is primarily to support the maintenance and safe operation of the waterways network infrastructure. Ministers do not have a role in operational matters such as restoration projects or maintenance, including allocation of funding for individual waterways. Restoration projects do receive funding from various sources. For example, the Montgomery Canal restoration project received £16 million in October 2021 from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, through a successful Powys County Council bid.

Waste Management: Local Government

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to group local authorities for funding purposes as part of her reforms to the collection of waste; and whether local authorities will be able to challenge how they have been grouped.

Rebecca Pow: In line with the New Burdens Guidance the Government will consult with local authorities or their representative bodies to decide on the approach to allocating funding.

Waste Management: Local Government

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to fully fund any additional costs incurred by local authorities arising from her proposed reforms to waste collection.

Rebecca Pow: Any new financial burdens introduced through new statutory duties on local authorities will be assessed and the net additional cost covered by the Government in line with the latest New Burdens Guidance. In exceptional circumstances, Ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities might decide to waive the funding requirement. We are working to assess net additional costs to local authorities.

Gardens: Waste Disposal

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her proposed reform of waste collection practices will include a requirement that local authorities provide a free garden waste collection service.

Rebecca Pow: We consulted on a range of options for dealing with garden waste in our 2021 recycling consistency consultation – including free collections, a maximum reasonable charge and methods to increase home composting rates.We have considered the fairness of each option alongside its environmental benefit. We will confirm the policy decision on garden waste collections in our Government response to this consultation which will be published shortly.

Sewage: Waste Disposal

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Ofwat on the enforcement of regulations relating to storm overflows.

Rebecca Pow: Defra ministers meet with Ofwat regularly to discuss a range of environmental delivery priorities for water companies, including Storm Overflows. This includes, for example, quarterly meetings with the chair and CEO of Ofwat to discuss performance of the sector and Ofwat enforcement, including on the use of Storm Overflows.

Countryside: Access

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending public rights of access as a means to deliver on the commitment in the Environmental Improvement Plan that everyone should live within 15 minutes’ walk of a green or blue space.

Trudy Harrison: We announced in our Environmental Improvement Plan in January our intention to work across government to ensure that everyone lives within a 15-minute walk of a blue or green space and committed to work in parallel to reduce barriers to access. We are currently focused on developing the right modelling tools and indicators to allow us to accurately measure the baseline, identify where to target efforts and to track future progress, engaging closely with stakeholders as we do so. As part of this we will consider the role of Rights on Way in helping to deliver this commitment. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a right to roam across open access land, giving the public a right of access to most areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin. This means that public already has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside. We have no plans to change this. England also has a fantastic network of footpaths with over 120,000 miles of public rights of way as well as many permissive access routes, including over 200,000 hectares of Forestry Commission freehold land. We are also working to complete the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP) which will create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin. At around 2,700 miles, KCIIIECP will be the longest waymarked and maintained coast walking route in the world and over 850 miles of the path are now open to the public.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Arts and Culture: Finance

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to provide financial support to arts and cultural organisations.

Sir John Whittingdale: HM Government recognises the great value of the UK’s world-leading arts and cultural sectors, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has a strong record of support for organisations in this space.Arts Council England are spending £444 million annually on a record 985 organisations in their National Portfolio, which was enabled by a total increase of over £43 million in Arts Council Funding across the most recent Spending Review period.We are also investing more than £200 million through the Cultural Investment Fund over this Spending Review period, and the £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund supported around 5,000 organisations. The extension to the higher rate of cultural tax reliefs secured at Spring Budget 2023 is estimated to be worth £350 million over the five year forecast period.

Question

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives of creative industries on the impact of AI on that sector.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Government recognises the opportunities presented by AI to enable growth in a range of sectors, including our creative industries. As set out in the recent AI white paper, our goal is to ensure that the UK becomes an AI superpower. However, it is important that while we harness the benefits of AI, we also manage the risks. This includes particular risks to creative sectors and copyright holders.The Department has held a number of meetings with the sector on this issue, including with members of the Creative Industries Council earlier this week, and with music, press and publishing stakeholders over recent weeks. The Secretary of State also met with the Minister for AI and Intellectual Property this week, together with the Intellectual Property Office.The Secretary of State intends to convene roundtable discussions in September with media stakeholders to discuss the particular impact of AI on journalism.

Gambling

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support the land-based gambling industry.

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Gambling White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published in April 2023, what steps her Department is taking to engage with the land-based gambling industry following the publication of the White Paper.

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the impact of the land-based gambling industry on the economy.

Stuart Andrew: Our gambling white paper set out the government’s plans for modernising the regulation of gambling in Great Britain. This included a number of measures to adjust outdated and overly restrictive rules to enable the land-based sectors to thrive sustainably. We recognise their contribution to the economy, including provision of employment in coastal towns and across the country.We are working with the Gambling Commission to bring key measures, including those relating to gaming machines in casinos, arcades and bingo halls, into force as soon as possible. We will consult on details required for implementation this summer. Since publishing the white paper, ministers and officials have engaged with industry representatives across the land-based sector, including the Betting and Gaming Council, British Amusement Catering Trade Association and the Bingo Association.

Gambling

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Gambling White paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, published on 27 April 2023, what her timeline is for publishing the findings of consultations on that White Paper.

Stuart Andrew: Our gambling white paper set out a range of proportionate measures to tackle practices and products which can drive harm and ensure that people who are at risk of gambling harm and addiction are protected. These include new player protection checks, a stake limit for online slots games, improvements to consumer redress and a statutory levy on operators to fund research, education and treatment.We are working with the Gambling Commission and other stakeholders to bring these measures into force as soon as possible, subject to further consultation where appropriate. The Government will publish a number of targeted consultations this summer, with the Commission also consulting on a number of priority areas, and will respond in due course.

Employment: Exercise and Sports

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions has she had with businesses on intergrading sport and activity into the working day.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) employers on the potential merits of businesses providing (i) showers and (ii) changing rooms to help encourage workers to participate in sport activities prior to or during working hours.

Stuart Andrew: His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that sport and physical activity provides.We work across the Government and with Sport England to support adults to achieve 2.5 hours of physical activity a week, and the upcoming Sport Strategy will set out our ambition to make sport and physical activity a core part of everyone’s daily life, making it more accessible, more inclusive and more sustainable.Sport England is an arm’s length body of the Government responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport and getting more people active across England. Sport England has published an ‘Active Employee Toolkit’ which offers advice, tips and shareable resources for employers to encourage their teams to build more movement into their working day.Additionally, the Government’s Cycle to Work scheme encourages employees to travel to and from work by bicycle; guidance for employers who want to put in place a cycle to work scheme is set out here. Furthermore, the Government’s guidance for employers to offer gym memberships and sports facilities to staff can be found on gov.uk.

Sports: Equality

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure people that people from all socio-economic backgrounds can participate in community sports.

Stuart Andrew: His Majesty’s Government is committed to ensuring that everyone is able to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that sport and physical activity provides, regardless of background. This is a central part of the Levelling Up agenda and will be a major focus of the Government’s upcoming Sport Strategy.We fund the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arms Length Body, Sport England - which receives over £100 million in Exchequer funding each year. Sport England is responsible for growing and developing grassroots sport and getting more people active across England. Sport England's ten year strategy ‘Uniting the Movement’ reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups.Government is also investing nearly £400 million directly into grassroots sports facilities across the country up to 2025.This includes over £300 million into multi-sport pitches and facilities across the UK to level up facilities by, in particular, targeting those communities most in need and increasing participation among under-represented groups, including women and girls, ethnic minority communities and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. At least 50% of the funding will go to the most deprived areas across the UK.Through our partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the government is renovating park tennis courts across England, Scotland and Wales. The Government is investing £22 million, with a further £8 million from the LTA. This funding will bring over 3,000 courts up to playable standard by 2025.At Spring Budget 2023, the Government also announced the £63 million Swimming Pool Support Fund to address the cost pressures facing some public swimming pool providers, and provide investment in energy efficiency measures to make facilities sustainable in the long-term and ensure communities can continue to access the facilities they need.

Exercise and Sports: Women

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase participation in grassroots (a) sports and (b) other physical activity by women and girls.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is committed to supporting women's sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation.In March this year, the Government announced a significant package of over £600 million to boost school sport, including confirmation of funding for the PE and School Sport Premium and the School Games Organisers network until the end of the summer term 2025. These programmes will improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity and ensure girls and boys have equal opportunity to play sport in school.Sport England have also developed the Studio You PE teaching resource which aims to get young girls engaged in PE lessons, the platform offers video-based lessons covering a range of non-traditional activities, like boxing, dance, pilates and yoga. In addition, Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign has already inspired millions of women and girls to get active regardless of shape, size and ability. In May this year, This Girl Can and ukactive published guidance ‘How to make your spaces safer for women: A call to action from the 51%’ to help fitness and leisure facilities create safer spaces for women and girls to be active.In addition, the Review of Women’s Football was published on 13 July, and supports the continued growth and development of women’s and girl’s football. The Government welcomes the work of the Review and will now consider the recommendations before providing a response in the autumn.

Sports: Demonstrations

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps to prevent protestors from disrupting sporting events.

Stuart Andrew: Recent disruption of sporting and cultural events is totally unacceptable, and the Government has taken steps to empower the police to ensure the smooth running of major events.I recently attended a roundtable with cabinet colleagues, police and sports representatives to ensure major sporting events this summer are protected from disruption, and we will continue to work with event organisers and police to protect the uninterrupted enjoyment of major sporting and cultural events.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Sir John Whittingdale: Ministers regularly engage hon. Members on a wide range of issues, whether on their request or proactively. The department does not keep a central record of meetings that are declined.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Artificial Intelligence

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) algorithmic and (b) other automated decision making systems her Department uses; and for what purposes.

Sir John Whittingdale: Decisions on the department’s policy and grant funding allocations - while informed by data, analysis and relevant criteria - are made by Ministers.Data processing is commonplace across all areas of department business, subject to set rules and criteria, as is the case for all organisations.

Gambling: Internet

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for a digital age, what her planned timescale is for publishing a consultation on a stake limit for online slots.

Stuart Andrew: We will publish a consultation this summer on the level at which the maximum stake limit for online slot games should be set, and on other details necessary for secondary legislation.

Gambling: Ombudsman

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to section four of the White Paper entitled High stakes: gambling reform for the digital age, what progress her Department has made on establishing an ombudsman to rule on social responsibility complaints.

Stuart Andrew: As set out in the Gambling White Paper, the Government is working with industry and all stakeholders to establish an appropriate ombudsman that can adjudicate complaints relating to social responsibility or gambling harm where an operator is not able to resolve these.We expect the ombudsman to be operational and accepting cases by summer 2024.

Betting

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has had discussions with gambling firms on helping to ensure customers are able to withdraw surplus funds from betting accounts in timely way.

Stuart Andrew: The department meets regularly with the gambling industry and its representatives, where this issue has previously been raised.Data provided to the Commission by some of the largest gambling companies shows that those firms approve, process and fulfil around 99% of customer withdrawal requests within 24 to 48 hours of the request being made. However, problems with withdrawing funds from gambling accounts remain the most common topic raised by people contacting the Gambling Commission’s Contact Centre.The Commission’s licence conditions and codes of practice contain a number of provisions to ensure operators treat their customers in a fair and open way. It makes clear that any necessary identity verification or anti money laundering checks should take place when funds are deposited rather than when customers try to make withdrawals.

English National Opera: Finance

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department will notify the English National Opera of the outcome of its funding application for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years.

Sir John Whittingdale: Decisions made by Arts Council England about which institutions to fund, and by how much, are taken at arm's length from HM Government. As such, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has no role in notifying organisations of the outcome of their funding applications.Arts Council England has awarded £11.46 million of public funding for the English National Opera for the current year (2023–24) and has set a budget of a further £24 million for 2024–26, with a final decision on the latter sum expected over this Summer.

Members: Correspondence

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to respond to correspondence of 9 June 2023 from the hon. Member for Lewisham East, case reference JD34532.

Sir John Whittingdale: The department aims to reply to correspondence within 20 working days. A reply was issued on 29 June 2023, which was therefore within this target time frame.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Artificial Intelligence

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the oral evidence of the Prime Minister to the Liaison Committee on 4 July 2023, HC1602, what steps her Department is taking to implement the (a) reporting and (b) licensing of large training runs for artificial intelligence.

Paul Scully: It is clear that the right guardrails must be in place to manage the risks AI poses. Our proportionate regulatory framework, underpinned by a set of principles and supported by tools like AI assurance techniques and technical standards, sets out a responsible approach to AI innovation. The Government also made it clear in our AI regulation white paper that our approach must be adaptable. As we now look to implement the new regulatory regime, we are considering how the framework will apply to the various actors in the AI development and deployment lifecycle, with a particular focus on foundation models.This is supported by the £100 million Foundation Model Taskforce led by Ian Hogarth, as well as a new central risk function and international leadership on AI safety through the AI summit.Our proposed central functions, including risk analysis, horizon scanning, and monitoring and evaluation, will keep the wider landscape under constant review to inform policy. They will capture emerging risks, including risks arising from increasingly powerful foundation models. The Foundation Model Taskforce will meanwhile advance vital safety research, laying the groundwork for the safe adoption of AI across the UK economy, ensuring we are at the forefront of this pivotal technology.The UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety this autumn. The Summit will bring together key countries, as well as leading technology companies and researchers, to drive targeted, rapid international action to guarantee safety and security at the frontier of this technology.As the Prime Minister told the Liaison Committee, the Government continues to analyse a range of safety features and guard rails that we could put in place. These could include new measures for the reporting and licensing of large training runs. But it is vital that the effectiveness of any proposals are rigorously evaluated before they are implemented. This is why we welcome the wide range of stakeholders that provided insights to our consultation on the AI regulation white paper. We are currently considering all evidence sent to the consultation and we will provide an update through the Government's response later in the year.

Artificial Intelligence

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she hold discussions with her international counterparts on the use of unlicensed data to train artificial intelligence models at the global summit on Artificial Intelligence.

Paul Scully: The UK will host the first major global Summit on AI safety this autumn.The Summit will bring together key countries, as well as leading technology companies and researchers, to drive targeted, rapid international action to guarantee safety and security at the frontier of this technology.The Summit will seek to agree on the safety measures needed to evaluate and monitor the most significant risks emerging from the newest developments in AI technologies.Decisions are ongoing regarding the agenda for the Summit and we look forward to updating the House further as our preparations continue.With regards specifically to data and AI, as a government, we want to make the UK a world leader in research and AI innovation, whilst ensuring that the UK copyright framework continues to promote and reward investment in creativity. To enable that, the government is supporting the growth of the creative industries through a number of IP-related initiatives, including the IPO’s Counter Infringement Strategy, to ensure IP rights are protected online.

Home Office: Research

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department is taking steps to (a) accelerate and (b) support the transition to new approach methodologies for (i) research and (ii) experiments; and if she will make a statement.

George Freeman: The Government is actively supporting and funding the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is strongly committed to the 3Rs and provides funding for the National Centre for 3Rs (NC3Rs), which works to drive the uptake of 3Rs technologies and ensure that advances are reflected in policy, practice and regulations on animal research. Since it was established, the NC3Rs has invested £77 million in research and almost £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme to UK and EU-based institutions.

Artificial Intelligence and Copyright: Codes of Practice

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent estimate she has made of when the Intellectual Property Office will publish its code of conduct on copyright and artificial intelligence.

George Freeman: The working group on copyright and AI has asked the Intellectual Property Office for more time to prepare a draft code of practice. A progress update will be published on GOV.UK shortly.

Artificial Intelligence: Copyright

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether it is her Department’s policy that companies using copyrighted data to train artificial intelligence models must seek appropriate licences.

George Freeman: The copyright framework is relevant whenever copyright works are copied. Permission or a licence should be obtained unless an exception applies.

Life Sciences: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the life science research sector on (a) the recruitment of scientists from EU countries and (b) the Horizon programme.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with the life sciences sector on collaboration by UK scientists with research bases in the EU.

George Freeman: We are moving forward with discussions on the UK’s involvement in Horizon Europe and hope these will be successful. That is our preference. We will continue to engage with representatives across the sector, including the life science research sector, as these discussions progress. More generally, the Office for Life Sciences works to ensure that initiatives such as the Scale-up Visa, the Department for Business and Trade Global Talent Network, and Cabinet Office GREAT Campaign consider the needs of the Life Sciences sector and help bring in world-class overseas talent.

Medicine: Research

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment she has made of the UK’s global ranking in the (a) development and (b) use of human-specific technologies in medical research.

George Freeman: The Government has not made an assessment on the UK’s global ranking in the development and use of human-specific technologies in medical research as there is no specific ranking. The Government is actively supporting and funding the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). UK Research and Innovation provides the core funding for the National Centre for 3Rs, which drives the uptake of 3Rs technologies. Since it was established, the NC3Rs has invested £77 million in research and almost £27 million in contracts through its CRACK IT Challenges innovation scheme.

Postgraduate Education: Cost of Living

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support postgraduate researchers with increases in the cost of living.

George Freeman: The Government recognises that postgraduate researchers (PGRs) are vital to the UK’s science and technology superpower ambitions. The Government has funded UKRI to significantly increase the minimum stipend level for PGRs by nearly 20% in cash terms over two years (rising to £18,622 pa for the 2023/24 academic year), to help them with the current cost-of living. Around 20% of PGRs receive UKRI stipends, which are generally tax-free. This financial support is part of the Government’s long-term work on reaching a New Deal for PGRs, to make the UK the best place for PGRs.

Postgraduate Education: Disadvantaged

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete postgraduate research.

George Freeman: The Government continues to provide targeted funding to increase the accessibility of postgraduate research (PGR) to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and is committed to creating a New Deal of support for PGR students. In 2022, the Office for Students and Research England announced funding for 13 projects to tackle persistent inequalities and barriers for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students to access PGR. In 2023, UKRI published results of a Call for Input on a PGR New Deal and will respond later this year. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology continues to work with UKRI and the Department for Education to consider further steps to support access to and widen participation in PGR.

Space

David Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the level of growth in the space sector in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to growing the UK space sector. Yesterday's inaugural meeting of the reformed National Space Council Inter-Ministerial Group was an important moment for taking forward the National Space Strategy and developing a single Government voice on space.

Patents: Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) patents for 4G and 5G technologies and (b) other Standard Essential Patents on the (i) development of the UK’s digital economy and (ii) ability of smaller British companies to compete and to use standardised connectivity technologies on fair terms.

Sir John Whittingdale: The Government recognises the significant role that the development and protection of intellectual property plays in the digital economy, especially in telecommunications. In particular, as highlighted in the findings of the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce Report in 2021, Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) have the “potential to serve as considerable barriers to diversification”. SEPs can impact the ability of smaller companies to compete on a level playing field, given challenges associated with identifying and licensing patented technologies.The Government set out its approach to these issues in both the 5G Supply Chain Diversification Strategy and the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy. These highlighted the importance of patent development to shaping 6G and future telecoms technologies so that the next generation of mobile networks meet the connectivity needs of the UK and maximise economic opportunities in the sector.The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is working closely with the Intellectual Property Office who are currently undertaking a review of SEPs in the context of the UK’s Intellectual Property Framework. This has included specific work gathering evidence from small and medium sized enterprises. Responses to the findings of these Calls for Views were published in August 2022 and July 2023.

Medicine: Research

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to support the growth of the human-specific technology sector.

George Freeman: The pace of technology in bioscience and AI is creating exciting opportunities to replace, reduce, and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). We are committed to support UK leadership in this field which we do primarily through funding from UKRI for the National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs). Since its launch, the NC3Rs has committed £100 million in research to develop new 3R technologies. £86million has already been invested with 73% on reducing use of animal testing. The UK HMG focus on AI & Engineering Biology as 2 of our 5 strategic technologies will also provide significant underpinning technological support for the acceleration of 3R technologies.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: WiFi

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost is of the wi-fi upgrades being made across the Parliamentary estate as of 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: The House service approved the business case for a project to significantly improve Wi-Fi services across the estate in December 2022.The Wi-Fi project will replace end-of-life hardware and upgrade services, to provide a seamless, simpler and better managed user experience for Members and staff, particularly for personal mobile devices in the form of a new Members and Staff Wi-Fi service and Guest Wi-Fi replacement for Internet Direct. This is supported by additional security and roaming service improvements, while also reducing operational overheads. Cost efficiencies are being gained by delivering this work alongside the Emergency Services Network project.Improvements will take place across the Parliamentary Estate, prioritising Member facing areas and key areas of procedural and parliamentary business.A breakdown of the costs per building is listed in the table below:BuildingPalace of WestminsterMillbank House14 Tothill Street6/7 Old Palace YardEducation CentreTotalEstates Cost£22m£2m£1.8m£0.4m£0.7m£27mWhile Parlimentary Digital Service (PDS) are actively managing WI-FI provisions for all parliamentary buildings, any buildings not listed in the table above do not require the same interventions and as such are outside of the scope of this main Wi-Fi Project, with any issues tackled on a case-by-case basis.The estimated cost including the whole life cost of the Wi-Fi upgrades being made across the Parliamentary estate by the Network and Wireless Project as of 14 July 2023 is listed in the table attached.To date the project spend is £4.8m in project delivery (including some PDS costs from FY23/24), operational costs and depreciation. Risk and optimism bias costs are not included as they have not been spent.Costs for Wi-Fi upgrades (pdf, 100.0KB)

House of Commons and Members: Staff

Conor McGinn: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many people are employed by (a) the House of Commons and (b) Members of Parliament.

Sir Charles Walker: As of 19 July 2023, the number of people employed by (a) the House of Commons is 3,284 and (b), the number of people employed by Members of Parliament through IPSA is 3,746.

Portcullis House: Repairs and Maintenance

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many incidents there have been relating to (a) leaks, (b) broken panels and (c) structural defects involving the glass atrium roof on Portcullis House in each of the last five years; and if he will provide details of those incidents.

Sir Charles Walker: Over the last five years, there have been 12 recorded leaks related to the glass atrium roof: three in 2021, four in 2022, and five in 2023. There have been three breakages: two in 2019 and one in July 2023.We are currently reviewing this data as part of the Portcullis House roof project. A report on the glass atrium roof has been commissioned and is due in August 2023.

Portcullis House: Repairs and Maintenance

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost is for the proposed Portcullis House upgrades for (a) the building’s mechanical and electrical systems, (b) the roof, (c) committee rooms, (d) AV upgrades, (e) atrium lighting and blinds and (f) refurbishment of lifts as of 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: I refer the hon. Member to PQ 180021 which I answered on 3 May 2023. The report on the Portcullis House roof referred to in that answer is due in August 2023.

Richmond House: Fire Prevention

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost is for the new fire doors for Richmond House, as of 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: The cost for the three new fire doors is approximately £110,000. This figure includes the installation cost, including the work required to the frames and surrounding structure for the doors.

House of Commons Terrace: Lighting

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost is of the proposed new lighting installations for the Terrace to facilitate marking chosen events by lighting up the Palace façade, as on 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: The estimated cost of the proposed new lighting installations for the Terrace is £361,488.Work will take place over the Summer to install LED lighting and controls on the Terrace. This will allow Parliament to mark chosen events by lighting up the Palace façade.The current lighting system is not powerful or flexible enough, so we are required to bring in a specialist each time to do a temporary installation. This also means that we can only commit to certain events. The new system will give us flexibility and allow us to respond more speedily to emergent events, should Parliament wish to. Long term the new system will be cheaper than bringing in a consultant each time.

Portcullis House: Repairs and Maintenance

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what recent estimate the Commission has made of the cost of the equipment upgrades in eight rooms of Portcullis House; and what will be included in these equipment upgrades.

Sir Charles Walker: Over the summer the eight rooms will receive an upgrade to:a. Lightingb. The controls for lighting, heating, and coolingThe cost of the upgrade to the eight rooms is £277,000.

Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated outturn cost is for the flat roof upgrades to the Palace of Westminster as of 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: The estimated outturn cost for the Flat Roofs Work upgrades project is £45 million. The project consists of 68 individual roof upgrades.Flat Roofs Work Package 1 consists of 23 individual roof upgrades within the House of Commons area, and Flat Roofs Work Package 2 consists of 45 individual roof upgrades within both House of Commons and House of Lords areas.Works in scope include:Preventing water ingress through the flat roof areas and hence preventing further degradation of the building fabric and internal finishes.Rationalising existing fire escapes and walkways and provide safe access to the roofs for maintenance purposes e.g. guttering, roof cleaning, essential Mechanical and Engineering (M&E) plant etc.Intrusive surveys (internal / external) of all flat roofs in scope, including M&E installations.

New Palace Yard

Alan Brown: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, what the estimated cost is of the New Palace Yard enhancements including the security upgrades, as of 14 July 2023.

Sir Charles Walker: We are unable to provide the financial information publicly as it is commercially sensitive. For security reasons we do not publish capital expenditure on security mitigating projects as providing this level of detail could enable an individual to infer the extent and nature of the works, and thus the vulnerabilities which they were intended to mitigate.

Wales Office

Domestic Visits: Cardiff South and Penarth

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff South and Penarth constituency.

David T C Davies: The Wales Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Domestic Visits: Cardiff West

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Cardiff West constituency.

David T C Davies: The Wales Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Domestic Visits: Carmarthen East and Dinefwr

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to Carmarthen East and Dinefwr constituency.

David T C Davies: The Wales Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Government Communication Service: Finance

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding was allocated to the UK Government Communications Service International in each of the last five financial years; which were the top ten countries in which that money was spent during that time; and how much money was spent in each of those countries.

David Rutley: The FCDO has no recorded spend for UK Government Communications Service International. Any funding by FCDO toward this programme in the last five financial years will be minimal and not accounted for separately.

Gibraltar: Spain

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Gibraltar, (b) Spain and (c) the EU on the border between Gibraltar and Spain, in the context of Spanish elections in July 2023.

Leo Docherty: The UK is steadfast in its support for Gibraltar. Working side-by-side with the Government of Gibraltar, we are committed to concluding a UK-EU treaty in respect of Gibraltar as soon as possible. A treaty that ensures the fluid movement of people between Gibraltar and the EU can secure future prosperity for the whole region. We will not agree to anything which compromises sovereignty and continue to support the Government of Gibraltar in contingency planning for no negotiated outcome. The Foreign Secretary and I are in regular contact with our counterparts in Gibraltar, the European Commission, and Spain. I [Minister Docherty] met with the Deputy Chief Minister on 17 July to discuss negotiations and no negotiated outcome contingency planning.

Convention on Cluster Munitions

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to uphold the commitment under the Convention on Cluster Munitions not to assist in the (a) use and (b) transfer of cluster munitions.

Leo Docherty: As a State Party to the Convention, the UK takes its obligations seriously. The UK discourages States from using cluster munitions and urges non-States Party to accede to the Convention without delay. In line with the provisions of the Convention, the UK engages in military co-operation and operations with non-States Party. In doing so, the UK does not assist anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party. The UK remains committed to ending the suffering and casualties caused by cluster munitions.

Climate Change: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2023 to Question 191934, what his Department's projected spend on international climate finance is for the current financial year.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK spent over £1.4 billion on international climate finance over the course of the 2021-22 financial year, supporting developing countries to reduce poverty and respond to the causes and impacts of climate change. Figures for 2022-23 and subsequent years will be published in due course.

Crops: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support international collaboration on research projects to improve crop resilience.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO supports the global research organisation, the CGIAR (formerly known as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research), to deliver the agriculture science and innovation needed to support effective responses to climate and conflict. This includes developing and scaling more productive, nutritious and climate-resilient crop varieties. The CGIAR has delivered spectacular long-term success stories: CGIAR wheat varieties are now planted on nearly half the world's wheat lands overall - and over 70 percent of all wheat varieties released in South Asia, Central and West Asia and North Africa come from CGIAR. In Ethiopia, 4 million households grow CGIAR maize varieties, representing 35% of the entire rural population. In Africa more than 37 million people benefit from new CGIAR stress-tolerant maize varieties, which cover almost 5.5 million hectares. These varieties have demonstrated increased yield and yield stability, resulting in greater production and improved livelihoods.

Science: International Cooperation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Global Health Framework Objective 4, what steps he has taken to lead a global campaign promoting open science for global resilience.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government recognises the importance and benefits of creating a more equitable and transparent global research ecosystem, including for health. This is the drive behind the 'Open Science for Global Resilience' campaign announced in April 2023. Whilst we have world leading open access levels, we are stepping up our efforts. This is reflected in our investments in policies for data infrastructure and sharing, and in partnerships for evidence synthesis and access. We work with delivery partners that share our values; for instance, all clinical trials funded via our partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)/Medical Research Council (MRC) are registered in public clinical trials databases.

Development Aid: Gynaecology

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help international counterparts tackle gynaecological disease.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government acknowledges the severe morbidity women face from gynaecological conditions and the distress these conditions can cause. In 2021, we launched our Ending Preventable Deaths for mothers, babies and children approach. This centres the importance of working with our international counterparts to strengthen health systems and progress sexual and reproductive health and rights, both of which are hugely important to tackle gynaecological disease. Our programmes in this area include support for the rollout of the Human Papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer through the global vaccine alliance (GAVI); and through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the UK is supporting the procurement and delivery of reproductive health commodities such as hormonal contraceptives, which are also used to treat gynaecological diseases.

Zimbabwe: Africa Climate Summit

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed the African Climate Action Summit with the Government of Zimbabwe.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed the African Climate Action Summit with the Government of Angola.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed the African Climate Action Summit with the Government of Namibia.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Mozambique on the African Climate Action Summit in September 2023.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed the African Climate Action Summit being with the Government of Egypt.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in South Africa on the African Climate Action Summit in September 2023.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in Ghana on the African Climate Action Summit in September 2023.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in The Gambia on the African Climate Action Summit in September 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: African countries are amongst the least responsible for causing climate change, yet it is having a devastating impact. The UK is committed to working with African partners to drive long-term climate action; I discussed climate change when I visited Egypt in May 2023 for meetings of the African Development Bank. We will continue to work closely with the African Union Commission and Government of Kenya as Africa Climate Action Summit co-hosts and engage other partners in the run-up to and at the Summit itself.

Africa Climate Summit

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Ministers will attend the African Climate Action Summit in September 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: African countries are amongst the least responsible for causing climate change, yet it is having a devastating impact. The UK is committed to working with African partners to drive long-term climate action and will be represented at the Africa Climate Action Summit in September.

Overseas Students: Women

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many scholarships his Department has given to enable study in the UK to women from (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bahrain and (c) Saudi Arabia in the last year.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO continues to support higher education for Afghans, offering Afghan candidates resident outside of Afghanistan the opportunity to apply for a Chevening scholarship.Under the Chevening Scholarship programme, seven Afghan women studied in the UK during the academic year 2022/23 (out of a total cohort of 19). Scholarships have been offered to 13 Afghan women (out of a total cohort of 24) for 2023/24.Chevening does not offer awards for citizens of Saudi Arabia or Bahrain.

Development Aid: Genito-urinary Medicine

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to make sexual and reproductive health and rights a priority in the upcoming White Paper on international development.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Government will publish an International Development White Paper later this year. It will set out how the UK will lead the charge against extreme poverty and climate change in a changing world. The FCDO global health directorate will engage with this process.Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are central to the UK's international development agenda. SRHR features strongly in our approach to end the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children (EPD), the international development strategy, and our recently published international women and girls' strategy.

Saudi Arabia: Detainees

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterparts in Saudi Arabia on the cases of (a) Manahel al-Otaibi, (b) Salma al-Shehad and (c) Fatima al-Shawarbi.

David Rutley: Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office human rights priority country, in part due to continued restrictions on freedom of expression. We regularly raise these issues with the Saudi authorities, including through Ministers. The Minister of State for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised freedom of expression, including individual cases of concern, with the President of the Saudi Human Rights Commission as recently as 5 July. We continue to monitor all three cases.

Morad Tahbaz

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last made representations to his Iranian counterpart on the case of Morad Tahbaz.

David Rutley: Following Iran's failure to honour its commitment to grant Morad Tahbaz an indefinite furlough from prison, we continue to underline our objection to Iran's behaviour at all available opportunities, both in London and via our Ambassador in Tehran. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon issued a statement on 10 January, the fifth anniversary of Tahbaz's detention, calling on Iran to release him so that he can return to his family in Tehran. Officials and Ministers regularly update the Tahbaz family on our public and private representations: Lord (Tariq) Ahmad met them most recently on 28 June. Morad is a UK-US-Iranian tri-national, and we continue to work closely with the United States to secure his permanent release and departure from Iran.

Saudi Arabia: Women's Rights

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia on the male guardianship system in that country.

David Rutley: We continue to monitor developments relating to gender equality in Saudi Arabia. We welcome the 2022 Personal Status Law, improving the rights of women on a range of issues, including marriage, divorce and custody rights. Regardless, no aspect of our relationship with Saudi Arabia prevents us from speaking frankly about human rights, including matters concerning gender equality. We regularly discuss women's rights with Saudi authorities including through Ministers.

International Development Association: Finance

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to provide funds for the next replenishment round for the International Development Association.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The International Development Association's 21st (IDA21) replenishment negotiations will commence in 2024. The IDA21 replenishment package should meet the challenge in IDA countries. The $93 billion International Development Association 20th (IDA20) replenishment was the largest in IDA's history. The UK is the third largest IDA20 donor, with £1.4 billion pledged.

Afghanistan: Women

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with Afghan women's groups on human rights in that country since August 2021.

Leo Docherty: The Government condemns restrictions the Taliban have imposed on Afghan women and girls. Ministers and officials engage regularly with a range of Afghan women. On 27 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia hosted a meeting of Afghan women leaders based in the UK and in Afghanistan where they discussed the impact of the Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women as well as the inclusion of Afghan women in the future political process. Officials continue to work closely with the Afghan Women's Support Forum, established by Baroness Hodgson of Abinger, with the most recent meeting taking place on 5 July.

Treasury

Credit: Regulation

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his planned timescale is for implementing regulations on buy-now pay-later providers.

Andrew Griffith: The Government’s consultation on proposed draft legislation to bring BNPL into regulation closed in April. The Government is carefully considering stakeholder feedback to this consultation and intends to publish a consultation response in due course, in which it will set out next steps.

Safe Hands Plans: Insolvency

Hilary Benn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he received a report from the Financial Conduct Authority on the collapse of the Safe Hands funeral group.

Andrew Griffith: Throughout the process of bringing the pre-paid funeral plan sector into regulation, the government has worked closely with the FCA to ensure that the regulation of the sector is proportionate and effective. As part of regular engagement with HM Treasury, the FCA made officials aware in March 2022 that Safe Hands would enter administration. The government and the FCA continue to engage regularly as we monitor the impact of regulation in this sector.

Inflation: Rents

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of increases in rent on the rate of inflation.

Andrew Griffith: Information on inflation in actual rentals for housing and its weight within the Consumer Prices Index can be found online at the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/consumerpriceinflation/current.

Musicians: EU Countries

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the impact of the requirement for musicians to obtain an ATA Carnet when taking their instruments to the EU on their earnings.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of negotiating an ATA Carnet waiver for UK musicians wanting to tour in the EU.

Victoria Atkins: ATA Carnets are not a requirement for anyone temporarily importing goods between the UK and EU. They are an optional facilitation which allow goods to be imported temporarily without the normal customs formalities (i.e. customs declarations) and import duty being paid. They allow a single document to be used for multiple countries’ customs controls.The use of an ATA Carnet is subject to an issuing fee and a requirement to provide a security. It is therefore a commercial decision for businesses and individuals whether a Carnet is the most suitable option for temporarily moving their goods. The Government is not currently having any discussions with the EU to negotiate a waiver of ATA Carnets for creative artists.An alternative option to an ATA Carnet is the Temporary Admission (TA) procedure. The UK and EU both operate a similar TA procedure which allows goods to be imported temporarily with relief from customs duty and import VAT, subject to certain conditions being met. If TA is used in conjunction with the UK or EU Returned Goods Relief scheme (for returning goods), goods can be moved temporarily between the UK and EU without having to pay import duties.

Arts: Tax Allowances

Conor McGinn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential to use tax incentives to encourage investment in the creative industries.

Victoria Atkins: The UK offers eight creative industry tax reliefs for film, high end TV, animation, children’s TV, video games, orchestras, theatres and museums and galleries exhibitions. The reliefs have a key role in stimulating growth and encouraging investment in the UK’s world-leading creative industries. Inward investment in UK film and high-end TV reaching a record figure of more than £5.3 billion in 2022. The Chancellor has identified the creative sector as a priority for economic growth. The Chancellor regularly engages stakeholders, including through the Creative Industries Conference which the Chancellor hosted on 3 May 2023. The conference brought together industry leaders and stakeholders from across the creative industries and covered a range of issues related to driving further growth in the sector. The Government keeps the tax system under continuous review. Any changes to tax reliefs would be communicated through the normal fiscal event process

Employment: Housing

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the employer-provided living accommodation tax exemptions and the potential impact of geographical location on the application of those exemptions.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect of changing taxation rules on NHS provided housing to help (a) retain NHS staff and (b) encourage new staff to island communities.

Victoria Atkins: Where an employer provides living accommodation to an employee and it is not within the scope of any exemptions, the cost of providing that accommodation will be taxable as a benefit-in-kind. The tax rules for employer provided accommodation apply to the whole of the UK and are consistent across different employers. This ensures the UK tax system is simple, easy to understand, and limits the risk of abuse. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Small Businesses: VAT

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reforms to VAT to encourage small businesses growth.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on small businesses. This is why, at £85,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the second highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether.

Small Businesses: VAT

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the annual VAT threshold on small business growth.

Victoria Atkins: Views on the VAT registration threshold are divided and the case for change has been regularly reviewed over the years. While some businesses have argued that a higher threshold would reduce administrative and financial burdens, others contend that a lower threshold would provide a fairer competitive environment.In 2018, the Government consulted on how the design of the VAT registration threshold could better incentivise growth. However, there was no clear option for reform.It was announced at Autumn Budget 2022 that the VAT threshold will be maintained at its current level of £85,000 until 31 March 2026.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the email from the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall of 30 June 2023.

Victoria Atkins: The email from the hon. Member for Ealing, Southall has been responded to on the 19th July 2023.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: Licensing

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) new and (b) renewal applications for (i) general and (ii) specific Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation licences have not been processed by that Office.

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many renewal applications for specific licences that are being processed by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation were submitted more than six months ago.

John Glen: Details of both general and specific licences issued by OFSI are set out in OFSI’s Annual Review, published each autumn. Please see 2022 Annual Review.

Taxpayers

Sarah Olney: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 July 2023 to Question 191850 on Taxpayers, if he will take steps to publish the further breakdown of this information by 20 July 2023.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC does not publish this information. HMRC’s Personal income by tax year statistics contains constituency-level breakdown of taxpayer numbers for 2020-2021, the latest available outturn, in Table 3.15. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1140547/Collated_Tables_3_12_to_3_15a_2021.ods HMRC’s Income Tax liabilities statistics publish a high-level regional breakdown containing the number of taxpayers in each income tax bracket. This includes outturn data up to the 2020-2021 financial year and projections for the following years up to 2023-2024. This information can be found in Table 2.2. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1165832/govuk_tables_.xlsx For projection years, HM Treasury does not publish this information at constituency level.

NHS: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2023 to Question 192919 on NHS: Wales, how much of the £2.4 billion in funding for the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will be allocated to the (a) 2024-25, b) 2025-26, (c) 2026-27, d) 2027-28 and e) 2028-29 financial years.

John Glen: In line with normal processes, further detail on the funding being provided by the UK Government in relation to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan will be confirmed at the next fiscal event.

Prisons: Education

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer on 3 July 2023 to Question 191434 on Prisons: Education, whether relevant stakeholders included staff unions; and if he will make a statement.

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer on 3 July 2023 to Question 191434, Prisons: Education, when he plans to provide an update on the implications for New Fair Deal of the ONS reclassification of Further Education to the public sector.

John Glen: The policy review of New Fair Deal in relation to Further Education colleges will include engagement with unions. The Government will update the House in due course.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2023 to Question 193171 on Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services, how many calls were made to the self-assessment helpline in each of last 12 months.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC Performance on Self-Assessment Helpline is published on a quarterly basis on the GOV.UK website here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-quarterly-performance-report-january-to-march-2023

Employment: British Nationals Abroad

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the current average processing time is for the (a) ca3837 Self-employed and temporarily working in a country within the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and (b) CA3822 Employees temporarily posted to a country in the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland forms.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to process A1 forms, which are required for anyone temporarily working in a country within the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, on musicians seeking to (a) work and (b) tour in the EU.

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to digitise the system for submitting and processing A1 forms.

Victoria Atkins: We do not have the information on current average processing times separately for employees and the self-employed. The Government has not made a formal assessment of the impact of A1 certificate processing times on musicians. In response to customer feedback, HMRC introduced new online versions of forms CA3822 and CA3837 in February and June 2023. These are designed to streamline the application process and offer a number of enhancements, including no longer requesting recent UK employment histories, and providing additional guidance for more complex questions. HMRC intend to automate the CA3822 and the CA3837 application process in the Autumn which will improve processing times and remove opportunities for error.

Revenue and Customs: Standards

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, What steps he is taking to reduce HMRC's response times to (a) individuals and (b) financial representatives.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC aims to improve customer service for both individuals and financial representatives through quicker and easier online services. For individuals, HMRC continues to add new services into the HMRC app and online offering, for example adding Child Benefit in 2023. For financial representatives, HMRC have created a new performance dashboard for agents to track claims/requests and inform their clients. Supporting those customers who can do so to move online will allow HMRC to improve telephone and post responses for customers with the most complex queries or those who are unable to access digital services. HMRC responds to the significant majority of calls to their Agent Dedicated Line within 10 minutes.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Ministers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions a request for a meeting by an hon. Member was not agreed to by (a) a Minister and (b) their office on behalf of a Minister in the last 12 months.

Mr Alister Jack: This information is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministers will regularly seek to engage with hon. Members, whilst balancing wider Ministerial and Parliamentary responsibilities.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres: Staff

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2023 to Question 192305 on Jobcentres: Staff, how many work coaches his Department plans to (a) recruit and (b) train within the next six months.

Guy Opperman: We continually review our resourcing position and recruitment plans on a quarterly basis.The number of work coaches being recruited through these plans is based on the absorption capacity into the business, ensuring recruits are effectively trained and supported through consolidation.

Universal Credit: Artificial Intelligence

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) risk and (b) equality assessments are made of the use of Artificial Intelligence to assess Universal Credit applications.

Mims Davies: Where Artificial Intelligence is used to assist its activities in prevention and detection of fraud within UC applications, DWP always ensures appropriate safeguards are in place for the proportionate, ethical, and legal use of data with internal monitoring protocols adhered to. DWP will not use AI to replace human judgement to determine or deny a payment to a claimant; a human agent will always make final decisions, safeguarding the protection of individuals. Where appropriate Equality and Data Protection Impact Assessments have been carried out. Both the NAO and ICO, who have looked at this issue recently, found no areas of immediate concern with our use of AI. DWP’s Personal Information Charter explains how and why we use personal information and citizen’s rights and responsibilities.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disclosure of Information

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he is taking steps to ensure that staff in his Department who are under investigation for alleged misconduct are not named before those allegations are proven.

Mims Davies: All cases of misconduct must be dealt with promptly. DWP’s discipline policy follows the wider Civil Service model policy and is explicit that anyone involved in a discipline case must maintain confidentiality throughout the investigation process and after the matter has concluded. All information relating to a case is confidential and must only be seen by the relevant people as required by the discipline process. The Government Internal Audit Agency’s Counter Fraud & Investigation (CF&I) team investigates allegations of serious offending by DWP staff, which may result in warnings, dismissal, or criminal proceedings. CF&I also investigates allegations of fraud and irregularities by the department’s contractors. Access to investigation records is limited to CF&I staff with a business need and all staff must adhere to the GIAA Code of Conduct and data protection laws. Should the investigation progress to interview, individuals (including witnesses) are advised that all information relating to the investigation and any subsequent disciplinary process is confidential. Those involved in an investigation should not discuss or share information about the case except in specified circumstances. Confidentiality is crucial and anyone not complying with this requirement or discussing a case without authorisation may themselves to subject to disciplinary action. An independent Decision Maker in DWP receives a final investigation report, which should remain confidential and only be shared with relevant managers and individuals. Personal data of third parties is protected by redacting it to prevent identification.

Employment: Disability

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a reasonable adjustment disability passport template to facilitate people with disabilities when changing employers and in recording their workplace requirements.

Tom Pursglove: The DWP has worked with stakeholders to develop a series of Adjustments Passports to support disabled people, and those with a health condition, with the transitions into employment and between jobs. The Adjustments Passport provides the individual with a living document of their adjustments and working requirements, it empowers the holder to have more structured conversations about their disability with their employer, raises awareness of Access to Work, and where an application is made it helps to reduce the need for an assessment. Since May 2022, a new Health Adjustments Passport has been rolled out in Jobcentres to support disabled jobseekers to have more structured conversations about their disability and in-work support needs with their Work Coach. In July 2023, the Service Leavers Adjustments Passport was launched to support those leaving the services with an injury, disability, or health condition, with the transition into civilian employment. Following a successful trial in 3 universities, the Universities Adjustments Passport will be rolled out from September 2023 to support graduates with the transition into employment by signposting to Access to Work, enabling students to make informed career choices and achieve their aspirations. We continue to develop the concept of the passport and this year we are piloting an Adjustments Passport for young disabled people on vocational programmes and developing a British Sign Language Adjustments Passport.

Personal Independence Payment: Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department issues guidance to benefit assessors on assessing (a) Crohn’s Disease, (b) Ulcerative Colitis and (c) other fluctuating conditions for Personal Independence Payments.

Tom Pursglove: All assessment providers (APs) are required to ensure that health professionals (HPs) carrying out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments have a broad training in disability analysis, as well as awareness training in specific conditions ranging from common to rare.At present, neither Independent Assessment Services nor Capita have a specific Condition Insight Report (CIR) relating to Crohn’s Disease. However, HPs have access to a range of resources as well as experienced clinicians to support them in assessing individuals with conditions that they may not be familiar with. Additionally, assessment providers engage with medical experts, charities, and relevant stakeholders, to strengthen their training programmes and Capita recently developed a CIR for HPs on Ulcerative Colitis in collaboration with Crohn’s and Colitis UK.It is stressed in the HP training that, although a claimant may sometimes be able to perform a task, they may not be able to do so safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, or in a reasonable time-period due to pain, fatigue, etc. HPs are expected to be mindful of the fact that many conditions fluctuate, producing symptoms that vary in intensity from mild to severe, and are instructed not to base their opinion solely on the situation as observed at the assessment. This is further explained in the PIP Assessment Guide for APs available on GOV.UK.

Psilocybin

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of psilocybin on the (a) health and (b) ability to work of people with long term health conditions; and whether his Department is taking steps to support research into these areas.

Tom Pursglove: No assessment has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions of the potential impact of psilocybin on the health, or ability to work, of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. This includes the potential impact of psilocybin on the health and ability to work of people with long-term health conditions. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

Personal Independence Payment: Incontinence

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessments his Department has made regarding the adequacy of the managing toilet needs or incontinence descriptor for Personal Independence Payment claims.

Tom Pursglove: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was established in collaboration with a wide range of experts and stakeholders, and following a comprehensive public consultation between 2010-2012, including on the activities and descriptors. We believe the resulting descriptors relating to the managing toilet needs or incontinence activity is the best way of identifying people whose daily living is most affected by this.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2023 to Question 193254 on Energy: Meters, whether it is the obligation of the householder to arrange for the switchover from Radio Teleswitching Services to Smart Meter.

Amanda Solloway: Energy suppliers will engage their Radio Teleswitching Service (RTS) customers to arrange their smart metering upgrades. However, to benefit from smart meters at the earliest opportunity, RTS users should contact their energy supplier as soon as possible to book their installation.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2023 to Question 193254 on Energy: Meters, whether customers will have access to low cost tariffs who through no fault of their own have been unable to transfer from a Radio Teleswitching System to a Smart Meter

Amanda Solloway: Households will need to liaise with their energy supplier to understand the default tariff arrangements for those without smart meters after 31 March 2024, as this will vary according to individual circumstances.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what proportion of eligible households have received an Alternative Fuel Payment in (a) North Shropshire, (b) Shropshire and (c) the UK.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what percentage of eligible households (a) in North Shropshire, (b) in Shropshire and (c) nationally applied for Alternative Fuel Payments.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many Alternative Fuels Payment applications remain to be processed for applicants (a) in North Shropshire (b) in Shropshire and (c) nationally as of 17 July 2023.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many and what percentage of applications to the Alternative Fuels Payment scheme were processed within six weeks.

Amanda Solloway: The most recent published data for applications for the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) Scheme in Great Britain can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support-scheme-alternative-fund-gb-ni-and-alternative-fuel-payment-alternative-fund-applications-made-by-customers. The proportion of refusals of applications to the Alternative Fuels Payment Scheme that were later overturned is information that is not held centrally and providing that information would incur disproportionate cost.

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many projects have been supported through ECO4 since 28 March 2023.

Graham Stuart: The Department publishes information on the number of households per month with ECO4 measures installed in Table T2.5b of the latest Household Energy Efficiency Statistics release

Energy Company Obligation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department has provided to ECO4 since 28 March 2023.

Graham Stuart: ECO is not funded directly by Government. It is an obligation on energy suppliers to meet a specified notional annual bill savings target. Government does not stipulate how energy suppliers fund delivery of their obligation, but we know they pass the costs onto their domestic customers. The cost of ECO is reflected in the energy price cap.

Electricity Interconnectors: Germany

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on potential impact of the delivery of the NeuConnect electricity interconnector between the Isle of Grain and Wilhelmshaven, Germany on supply chain job creation in the next five years.

Graham Stuart: The Secretary of State regularly meets with Cabinet colleagues to discuss major updates and developments in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, including progress made towards our electricity interconnection and energy security ambitions. A cost-benefit analysis of the NeuConnect electricity interconnector shows that the project is set to create over £1.7bn in UK consumer benefits over 25 years and support up to 500 jobs across the UK and Germany during construction, including in the supply chain sector. Developers of the project have also committed to employing local contractors whenever possible.

Electricity Interconnectors: Germany

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the licensing agreement between the Crown Estate and the developers of the NeuConnect electricity interconnector.

Graham Stuart: The final licencing decision, including determining the terms of the licence, sits with The Crown Estate. The Secretary of State does not assess the adequacy of the licensing agreement.

Electricity Interconnectors: Germany

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what funding (a) his Department and (b) predecessor departments have provided to the NeuConnect project for an electricity interconnector between the UK and Germany.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not provide direct funding for interconnectors. Electricity interconnectors can be supported by a cap and floor regime regulated by Ofgem which provides developers with a minimum return and a limit on potential earnings.

Electricity Interconnectors: Germany

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an estimate of the number of hours staff in (a) his Department and (b) predecessor departments have spent working on contracts associated with the NeuConnect electricity interconnector between the UK and Germany.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not work directly on contracts for developing interconnectors. Ofgem is responsible for operating the cap and floor regime and licensing arrangements. Due to changes in staff over the length of this engagement, it is not possible to quantify the time my ministry and its predecessor has spent overseeing the work on NeuConnect.

Solar Power: Manufacturing Industries

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192432 on Solar Power: China, what the value of support given under the Contracts for Difference scheme to UK manufacturers of (a) solar grade polysilicon, (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells and (c) solar modules is since 2018.

Graham Stuart: The Contracts for Difference scheme is not open to manufacturers.

Solar Power: Manufacturing Industries

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 12 July 2023 to Question 192432 on Solar Power: China, how much funding was provided to UK manufacturers of (a) solar grade polysilicon, (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells and (c) solar modules through (i) the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and (ii) initiatives funded by UK Research and Innovation since 2018.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Entrepreneurs Fund gives grants to companies to develop low-carbon technologies. Since April 2018, it has not awarded any grants in (a) solar grade polysilicon or (b) solar ingots, wafers and cells. It has awarded £2.3M in grant funding for innovation in (c) solar modules to UK companies, including grants for improving performance or developing new products. UKRI data is not held by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Leader of the House

Statutory Instruments

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, what the average cost to the public purse is for (a) issuing a correction slip for a statutory instrument and (b) statutory instruments (i) made and (ii) issued under the free issue procedure.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, how many statutory instruments (a) required correction slips and (b) were (i) made and (ii) issued under the free issue procedure between 2006 and 2016.

Penny Mordaunt: The National Archives is responsible for determining the publishing costs of legislation, and for operating the correction slip and free issue process on behalf of the Government.Departments pay a publishing fee for each correction slip or free issue Statutory Instrument (SI). Since January 2019, the publishing costs have been as follows:SI publishing fee - £305Explanatory Memoranda (if relevant) - £145Impact Assessment (if relevant) - £55Correction slip - £20.50Issuing an SI under the free issue procedure incurs a cost on top of the SI publishing fee. The average additional cost for issuing an SI under the free issue procedure is £39.90.The distribution of the SI also incurs a cost. If an SI is issued free of charge due to an error in an earlier SI, The Stationery Office (TSO) will identify everyone who bought a copy of the original SI and arrange for them to receive a free copy of the new version, paid for by the department. The cost of this will vary for each SI.The number of SIs between 2006 and 2016 that required correction slips and were made and issued under the free issue procedure is as follows:YearNumber of UKSIs made that yearCorrection slips issued for made UKSIsNumber of UKSIs issued under the free issue procedure200615541104820071639121532008148312751200918171126820102801765120112808633820123002743120132969792420143131493820151743424120169486423

Political Parties: Donors

Martin Docherty-Hughes: To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to her oral contribution of 12 June 2023 on Members of Parliament: Risk-based Exclusion, Offical Report, column 110, whether she plans for the new cross-party forum to consider proposals on the transparency of political donations.

Penny Mordaunt: Transparency of funding is a key cornerstone of the UK’s existing electoral system. There is already an established framework which requires the political parties to record all donations, and certain donations must be reported to the Electoral Commission. This includes donations from impermissible donors, and also donations from the same permissible source that amount to over £7,500 in one calendar year. For transparency, donation reports are published online by the Electoral Commission for public scrutiny.The terms of reference for the cross-party forum will be agreed in due course.

Rishi Sunak: Oral Statements

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, how many oral statements the Rt Hon Member for Richmond (Yorks) has made to the House of Commons in each of the last five years.

Penny Mordaunt: This information is not held centrally. I would refer the hon. member to the House of Commons Library service.

Prime Minister's Questions

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, what proportion of Prime Minister's Questions were attended by each of the last five Prime Ministers.

Penny Mordaunt: This information is not held centrally.I refer the hon. member to the research briefing provided by the House of Commons Library (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04401/).

Members: Conduct

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to her oral contribution of 12 June 2023 on Members of Parliament: Risk-based Exclusion, Official Report column 83, who she is bringing in to advise her on these matters.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Leader of the House, with reference to her oral contribution of 12 June 2023, Official Report, column 83, what recent progress she has made on appointing an adviser on standards.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government is carefully considering this appointment to ensure that an adviser has the necessary expertise and shall provide an update in due course.

Northern Ireland Office

Phenylketonuria: Sapropterin

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will bring forward proposals to permit the use of Kuvan for people with Phenylketonuria in Northern Ireland aged 21 and above.

Mr Steve Baker: The use of Kuvan for people with Phenylketonuria in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Department of Health. The Northern Ireland Executive Formation etc. Act 2022 and subsequent Northern Ireland Interim Arrangements Act 2023 make powers available to Northern Ireland Departments to take decisions to maintain the delivery of public services in the absence of Northern Ireland Ministers and a Northern Ireland Executive.

Foreign Investment in UK: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to promote the Northern Ireland Investment Summit in September 2023

Mr Steve Baker: The Northern Ireland Office is working closely with the Department of Business and Trade as well as local Northern Ireland partners, including Invest NI, to showcase Northern Ireland’s strengths and opportunities on a global stage and secure transformational investments. We are working with business groups in Northern Ireland, as well as the wider diplomatic network to attract potential international investors to the NI Investment Summit 2023 and unlock opportunities for future investment that will strengthen economic growth across Northern Ireland.

Domestic Visits: Belfast East

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when a Minister from his Department last made an official visit to the Belfast East constituency.

Chris Heaton-Harris: My Ministers and I regularly travel to Northern Ireland for a variety of engagements. The following are the most recent visits made by Northern Ireland Office Ministers to each constituency in Northern Ireland: Belfast East - 28th June 2023 Belfast North - 7th June 2023 Belfast South - 16th June 2023 Belfast West - 16th April 2023 East Antrim - 15th June 2023 East Londonderry - 18th May 2023 Fermanagh and South Tyrone - 8th May 2023 Foyle - 18th May 2023 Lagan Valley - 25th May 2023 Mid Ulster - 8th September 2022 Newry & Armagh - 16th November 2022 North Antrim - 15th April 2023 North Down - 25th May 2023 South Antrim - 7th June 2023 South Down - 28th June 2023 Strangford - 27th January 2023  Upper Bann - 12th July 2023 West Tyrone - 7th March 2023

Attorney General

Rape: Victim Personal Statements

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to Recommendation 9 of the Joint Inspectorate’s Phase Two report into the police and Crown Prosecution Service response to rape, published in February 2022, in how many and what proportion of rape cases resulting in a conviction in the 2022-23  financial year did the victim (a) make a victim personal statement prior to trial, (b) make or update a victim personal statement between trial and sentencing and (c) actively decline the option to make a victim personal statement.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not have a central record of the number of victim personal statements made, updated or where a victim declined to provide one.

Rape: Victim Personal Statements

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to Recommendation 9 of the Joint Inspectorate’s Phase Two report into the police and Crown Prosecution Service response to rape published in February 2022, in how many and what proportion of rape cases resulting in a conviction in the 2022-23 financial year was there no record of the victim (a) making and (b) actively declining the option to make a victim personal statement prior to sentencing.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not have a central record of the number of victim personal statements made, updated or where a victim declined to provide one.